Rewriting History
by Scruffy-looking
Summary: Not all is what it seems when Ambassador Spock pays a secret visit to DS9...
1. Chapter 1

**Rewriting History  
**A Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Fanfic

_Note: this story takes place in DS9's fifth season, between "Empok Nor" and "In the Cards."_

_Disclaimer: Star Trek Deep Space Nine is the sole intellectual property of Paramount Pictures, Inc. I'm just playing in this world, and claim no ownership or profit in doing so._

* * *

**Chapter 1**

Benjamin Sisko was in a bad mood this morning.

On his way to Ops to begin his morning duty shift, Sisko had the great displeasure of watching a vast armada of Dominion ships burst out of the wormhole en route to Cardassia. It was the third such convoy to emerge in the past three weeks, their numbers adding to an already-imposing array of forces gathering in Cardassian space. Worse than the unceasing passage of their ships, however, was the knowledge that Starfleet and the Federation continued to eschew any attempt to blockade the wormhole. _We are still working towards some form of diplomatic settlement, _the droll communiqué from Nechayev read. As much as he wished for a peaceful resolution to the crisis, Sisko knew better than to hope for the impossible. _Besides, it's doubtful we could physically stop them now even if we wanted to._

Bad as the ongoing convoys were, the immediate cause of his unhappiness was the ongoing task of preparing Deep Space Nine for the coming conflict, a job as distasteful as it was necessary. So far the civilian population had remained relatively unaffected by security measures, but that time was rapidly coming to a close. In addition to heightened patrols and inspections, Security Chief Odo had just recommended that children and nonessential civilians be 'relocated' to Bajor. After thinking for a short while, he decided against it for the time being, ruefully imagining the look of subtle scorn that would come from the Constable when he told him.

Other matters were not so pressing, so as Sisko entered his office he pushed aside the data pad and picked up his baseball, idly rotating it in his right hand to relieve his stress.

An alert bleeped out over the speakers. Touching his communicator, he said, "Sisko here."

"Captain," Major Kira replied, "an unscheduled Vulcan transport has docked at the station. Her captain wishes to speak with you."

"Acknowledged, Major," he replied. "Put him through."

"Sir, he wishes to speak with you in person. Aboard his ship."

That was unusual. Sitting up straighter, he said with the hint of an edge in his voice: "Major, I'm busy right now. You know what station protocol is. Please explain it to our Vulcan visitors."

"Yes, sir. One moment." The comm went silent. Sisko reached for his data pad, then stopped. For some reason, he had a feeling his business with the Vulcans wasn't finished yet.

Sure enough, a minute later Kira called him again. "Captain, I'm very sorry, but the Vulcan captain won't take no for an answer. He says, and I quote, 'It is vital that we meet with discretion.' What should I tell him?"

Sisko considered, then decided the change of routine might be worth dealing with. He said with a playful tone in his voice: "Who am I to say no to a Vulcan?"

"Sir?" Kira asked, confused.

Smiling, Sisko got up and said, "Tell the captain I'll be with him shortly."

"Yes, sir. They're docked at Lower Pylon 2."

"Acknowledged. Sisko out." He left his office.

* * *

Exiting the turbolift, Sisko walked down the darkened corridors towards the airlock entrance, flanked by two of Odo's Bajoran deputies. As he turned the corner, he noticed that two Vulcans were standing by the entrance, dressed in dark, featureless civilian clothing. He had a sudden sense of unease; he couldn't say why, but the Vulcans appeared—he fumbled for a description—off-kilter. Their gazes had an ineffably hard tinge to them, and their postures were, for lack of a better word, aggressive. Normally he wearied of Odo's security precautions, but for now he suddenly felt reassured.

The Vulcans watched him approach silently, not saying a word. When he was right in front of them, the one nearest to him said, "You are Captain Benjamin Sisko of Deep Space Nine?"

Flashing a grin, he replied: "That's what it says on the plaque on my desk."

The Vulcan turned to his counterpart, who nodded. They stepped aside and gestured towards the airlock. "Captain."

Sisko walked forward. One guard took a step after him, but he raised his hand. "It's all right." The guard didn't look happy, but remained behind.

Entering the cramped ship, there was no one there. "Captain?" he called out. A door opened behind him. He turned and stopped, filled with surprise.

Ambassador Spock was staring back at him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

* * *

"Ambassador Spock," Sisko managed to whisper.

"Indeed, Captain Sisko. Thank you for coming to see me."

"The honor is mine, Ambassador." Despite himself, Sisko stared, for he was standing face to face with one of the true legends of Starfleet and the Federation. Of course, a while ago he had been secretly within earshot of the famous Vulcan science officer during the time-travel incident with Darvin, but that entire affair had been so surreal the memories were already hazy. Not so now; the Ambassador was standing in front of him, real as could be, clothed in a simple dark brown tunic.

"I apologize for going to such lengths to meet with you in such a manner, but it was necessary," Spock said gravely.

Finally getting a hold of himself, Sisko nodded. "To what do we owe the pleasure of this visit?" he asked.

Spock was silent for a moment. "You are, no doubt, aware of the gravity of the situation the Federation currently faces," he began.

Sisko nodded again. "Yes, Ambassador. The Dominion threat grows daily," he said, remembering what he saw this morning.

"I have been… engaged in delicate negotiations with the Romulans for some time now." This statement was interesting but not entirely informative; Ambassador Spock had mysteriously disappeared around the time of the death of his father several years ago, and to the best of his knowledge had not been heard from since. All sorts of crazy rumors had spread around Starfleet HQ about it—that he was dead, or even that he had defected to the Romulans. "Unfortunately, they have proved most reluctant to join with the Federation and the Klingons in common defense against the Dominion threat. Therefore, my mission here is to engage in—" again he paused, "—unofficial talks with other Alpha Quadrant powers, to try and convince them to assist us."

"And you came all the way out to Bajor to do so?" Sisko asked.

Spock nodded. "I believe such talks, held 'in the shadow of the beast', as it were, may provide my diplomatic colleagues with a fresh perspective on the manner," he said, a small smile actually crossing his wizened face. "But security is paramount, Captain. No one must know of my presence here, not even your senior staff."

"Oh?" Sisko said, surprised and even a little suspicious.

Spock suddenly looked apologetic. "Again, my apologies, Captain, but we must not allow the Dominion to know anything of my efforts." He paused. "Changeling infiltration of the Alpha Quadrant is a threat we cannot ignore."

"Indeed," Sisko agreed. _First with Colonel Lovok, then Admiral Krajensky, and finally Martok himself. And perhaps?_ Sisko resisted the urge to step away.

"Rest assured, Captain, I am not a Founder," Spock said dryly.

He hated to say it, but: "That's what we thought about General Martok."

There was an uncomfortable silence. Spock broke it: "I have a solution: you may bring your doctor here to my ship, and he could verify my identity."

Inwardly Sisko breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Ambassador." Spock bowed fractionally. Sisko touched his chest. "Sisko to Bashir."

"Bashir, here, Captain."

"Please report to Lower Docking Pylon 2 with a medical scanning kit, set up for Procedure C."

"Captain?"

"You heard me, Doctor. And come alone."

"Yes, sir. On my way."

* * *

Dr. Bashir's reaction was no different than Sisko's had been. "Ambassador Spock? This is an unexpected pleasure—"

Sisko interrupted him. "Doctor, if you'll please."

"Oh, yes, sir." Julian took out his medical tricorder and began scanning Spock. Once finished, he said: "Computer: link with Starfleet personnel database and compare scan results with those of Ambassador Spock of Vulcan. Authorization: Bashir 1783D."

"One moment, please." The tricorder compared readings, then said: "The scans are identical within specified error margins."

Sisko and Bashir shared a look. "Excuse me, Ambassador, if you will please?" Dr. Bashir held out a hypospray. Spock raised an eyebrow, then rolled up his sleeve and proffered his left arm. Julian drew some blood, then took out another hypospray and injected him. He then took out his tricorder and began scanning.

"As one scientist to another, may I ask what are you doing?" Spock asked.

"General Martok's deception to the contrary, blood tests can be effective," Bashir responded. "We just need to make sure it's actually your blood we're drawing. I've injected you with a harmless radioactive tracer dye, which will illuminate your internal systems on tricorder scan. We believe even a changeling cannot sufficiently mimic a human—or Vulcan's—body from the inside out to fool such a test."

"Most clever," Spock replied equably.

Julian worked the tricorder for a while, not speaking. "Your conclusions, Doctor?" Sisko asked.

Dr. Bashir continued scanning in silence, then lifted his head up and smiled. "Well, I can't guarantee 100% that a changeling couldn't outwit my tests, but as far as I can tell, Ambassador Spock is exactly who he says he is."

"'Trust but verify' is as valuable in science as it is in diplomacy," Spock said.

"Indeed." Much more at ease, Sisko asked: "What are your requirements, Ambassador?"

"A secluded locale on Bajor, for one week's duration," Spock replied. "My colleagues should be arriving over the next few days. They will come to you concerning the location of 'the old man.' When they do so, please direct them discretely to my whereabouts."

"Understood, Ambassador. I'll contact you when the arrangements are made."

"Thank you again, Captain Sisko."

"My pleasure, Ambassador." He turned to Julian. "Remember, Doctor: you are under orders not to reveal to anyone the presence of Ambassador Spock on Deep Space Nine or in this sector."

"Understood, Captain."

"Very well, I must return to Operations." With a slight bow, Sisko turned and left the Vulcan ship.

As Julian turned to follow, Spock said, "Doctor Bashir, may I have a word with you?"

Somewhat surprised, Bashir said, "Of course, Ambassador." Spock gestured to an adjacent conference room on the ship.

Stepping inside, Julian said enthusiastically, "If I may be so bold, Ambassador, I've always been intrigued about the circumstances concerning your 'resurrection' on the Genesis Planet. What we've been taught at the Academy has always seemed so inadequate, I was wondering." He paused. "Ambassador?" Bashir began to turn around—

—and before he could react, Spock reached up and pinched him in the shoulder near the base of his neck. Julian was able to emit only a single, startled gasp before he lost consciousness.

"Perhaps another time, Doctor," Spock said coldly. He lowered him roughly to the ground. Another door on the other side of the room opened and someone stepped in.

"I'm impressed," the man said in an acerbic voice, standing over Dr. Bashir's still form. "I thought they would agree no questions asked."

"Never assume, that is the first rule of victory," Spock replied. "You know what to do."

The man snorted. "I'm a soldier, not a doctor."

"What you were is irrelevant, what matters is what you will be." Spock glared coldly at him, saying nothing further.

The man's demeanor deflated, but only a bit. "Of course, 'Ambassador'!" He gave a mocking salute.

"Proceed immediately. Time is of the essence."

The man was puzzled. "I thought we had all the time in the world?"

Spock actually grinned. "We do—but we don't." Without another word he left the room.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3  
**

* * *

_Captain's Log: Stardate 50875.1, Security Encoding Level Five Enabled_

_Ambassador Spock and his party have traveled to Bajor, where I have made arrangements for them to reside at the Itaakar Retreat while they await the arrival of the other delegates. For all our sakes, I hope his negotiations succeed._

As Captain Sisko stood in Operations, he felt much more at ease than he did this morning. Objectively speaking he had little reason to feel better, since the overall situation was as dire as before. He also had to admit to himself that the likelihood of Spock succeeding in getting other Alpha Quadrant powers to join with the Federation and the Klingons against the Dominion was slim at best. Still, Spock's achievements as a diplomat and a man of peace were legendary, and if there was anyone in the Federation who could do it, the Ambassador could.

"Major," he said amiably, turning to Kira, "please pass on to First Minister Shakaar my deepest appreciations for his efforts on my behalf."

"Of course, Captain. Sir, if I may—"

"Yes, Major?"

"When I asked, Minister Shakaar was very evasive about what you asked of him. I don't mean to pry—"

"I just needed him to secure a meeting place for the next week or so. I can't talk about it now, but let's just say that if it all works out, some big changes will be happening."

"Change isn't always good," she replied guardedly.

"You're right," he agreed, "but right now it can't get much worse for us here, can it?"

"I suppose that's one way of looking at it." Kira had little idea of what he was talking about, unsure whether he was speaking the truth or engaging in what she charitably called the human propensity for optimism.

As Julian emerged from the turbolift, Sisko began conferring with Worf over the latest intelligent reports.

"We just received this from the _Hornet,_ patrolling near Sector 114," Worf said, handing Sisko a datapad.

Studying the pad, Sisko bit his lip. "Looks like they've finally completed that forward shipyard we've been observing. Better forward this to Starfleet Command."

An alarm began chirping on Kira's console. She said: "Captain, we're receiving a priority message from Bajor."

"Onscreen."

On the main viewer, a highly agitated Bajoran official appeared.

Sisko said: "This is Captain Sisko on Deep Space Nine. What can we do for you?"

"This is Adjutant Pen Jured of the Interior Ministry," the Bajoran replied rapidly. "A group of Vulcans just assaulted the Temple of Iponu and stole the Orb of Time, fleeing the planet in the process!"

Everyone turned around and stared at the screen in shock. "What?" Sisko said meekly, a sinking feeling rapidly filling his belly.

"See for yourself!" Pen hissed. He pressed a button and the viewscreen switched to the main foyer of the Temple of Iponu. Numerous bodies were scattered about, and the doors to the antechamber where the Orb had been housed after being repatriated from Cardassia had been forced ajar.

Sisko was all business now. "Tell me everything that happened, Minister. From the beginning."

"The Vulcans who were your guests had requested a tour of the Temple area. When we brought them to Iponu they suddenly attacked the vedeks and guards assigned to the Temple, then transported off the surface before the Bajoran militia could respond." The veins on his neck popped out in fury. "Captain, I must protest—"

"Acknowledged, we're on it. Sisko out." The screen went blank.

"Guests? What Vulcan guests?" Kira asked.

Sisko rubbed his head in frustration. _This is all my fault!_ "I'll explain later. Dax, scan the system, search for a Type 2 Vulcan courier ship."

Dax nodded. "Working." A moment later: "I've got it, bearing 324 mark 23. Range two million kilometers. They're heading for the wormhole at full impulse, ETA three minutes."

"Tactical onscreen." On the main viewer, a yellow triangle was heading towards the station. Three Bajoran patrol craft were following after it, but they had not fired out of fear of damaging the Orb.

_Why are they going to the Gamma Quadrant?_ "Hail them!"

"They're not responding."

"Open a channel anyway. Sisko to Vulcan ship, stand down immediately. I repeat, stand down immediately."

Dax shook her head. "Nothing, Benjamin."

"Mr. Worf, fire a shot across their bow."

"Acknowledged." On the viewscreen, a photon torpedo exploded nearby.

"They're still heading in," Kira said, her eyes locked on her own tactical display.

Sisko nodded. "Worf, prepare to target—"

"—I wouldn't do that if I were you, Sisko!" Doctor Bashir suddenly said from behind. Before Sisko could respond he felt the cold touch of a phaser jamming into his neck.

"What the—Julian, what are you doing?" he said angrily.

Julian laughed. "Only what's necessary, Captain! Back away, all of you, or I'll shoot!" Around them, Worf and the station guards lowered their weapons, but only slightly.

"Let them go," Bashir said, "and no one gets hurt. You, Klingon, back away from the console."

Worf's lips pulled back into a silent snarl, but he did what Bashir said. Turning his head fractionally towards Dax, Sisko mouthed wordlessly. Jadzia jerked her head.

"It's nothing personal, Benjamin," Bashir whispered into his ear, the tone of his voice belying his words. "Believe it or not, you're actually the last person I want to kill."

"You have a funny way of showing it," Sisko replied, his body turning out of anger.

"Ah ah, no further," Bashir said in a quiet, deadly voice. "Don't do it, it's not worth it."

As Sisko and Bashir were locked in their tense grip, Dax had smoothly circled around to Worf's console and rapidly entered a string of commands. A few seconds later, the station shuddered imperceptibly as a tractor beam locked on to the Vulcan ship.

Bashir jerked his head about. "You!"

"Thanks, old man," Sisko said with a smile.

"Release the tractor beam, now," Bashir growled.

"You can kill me if you want, but I'm not letting you take that Orb across the looking glass." He could feel Bashir tense instantly. _ Looks like I guessed right. But now our troubles are only beginning..._

"We'll see about that," he replied wolfishly. The comm alert chirped.

"Captain," Kira said, "they're hailing us."

"Onscreen."

The viewscreen filled with the image of Ambassador Spock sitting in a command chair, a most un-Vulcan like look of fury on his face. The other Starfleet personnel in Ops stared in open astonishment at the identity of the pirate.

"Release us immediately," Spock said.

"Over my dead body, Ambassador," Sisko shot back.

Spock scowled. "In that case, Captain, how about double or nothing?" Snapping his fingers, another Vulcan brought a disheveled Bashir into view.

"Julian!" O'Brien said in shock.

Now Spock began to grin."What will it be, Captain?"

Sisko was torn. _I can't let them do what they plan to do, but am I willing to sacrifice a friend to do so?_ "Return our Bashir to us, and we'll return yours to you."

Spock shook his head. "Only if you let us go."

Sisko was really starting to hate a un-Vulcan Vulcan. "Damn it, Spock!" he cried in frustration. "What's gotten into you?"

He raised an eyebrow. "I believe you have mistaken me for someone else."

"I haven't," Sisko replied knowingly. "Wherever you came from, what you're doing is wrong!"

Spock settled back into his chair. "I will be the judge of that. Now, release us in ten seconds, or your doctor dies."

Sisko's shoulders slumped. "All right, first we drop the tractor beam as you lower your shields. Then we'll do simultaneous transports." He paused. "Okay?"

"Acceptable," came Spock's terse reply. Bashir let Sisko go, grinning as he lowered his phaser. Turning, Sisko said tersely: "Chief?"

"Ready, sir." O'Brien threw a nasty look at the faux-Bashir, then said curtly: "Transporter standing by."

"Worf, release the tractor beam on my mark; Chief, initiate transport as soon as their shields are down. On the count of three. One… two… three…"

Worf deactivated the tractor beam. Immediately the Vulcan ship sprinted towards the wormhole. On the transporter pad, their Doctor Bashir materialized. The other Bashir's form shimmered and then suddenly reformed. In a frantic voice, O'Brien cried out: "Their shields are still up! Aborting transport!"

As the other Bashir rematerialized on the deck, a look of pure fury flushed across his face. "No!" He swung the phaser towards Sisko, but Worf's shot dropped him.

The Vulcan ship approached the wormhole. "Thank you, Captain," Spock said softly. "Now, I must say good bye forever. I have an Empire to save… from myself." The screen went blank as the wormhole opened up in a plume of light, the Vulcan ship disappearing inside.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4  
**

* * *

After the Vulcans escaped, a cacophony of voices exploded across Ops as everyone asked Sisko about what had just happened.

Sisko raised his hand. "I'll explain it to you all. First things first. Doctor, are you all right?" He walked over to Julian and put a hand on his shoulder.

Grimacing, Bashir rubbed his head and said, "I'll be fine. Spock—if that was Spock," he said dubiously, "gave me a nerve pinch after you left yesterday. When I came to, they had me locked in a room."

"Did they say anything about who they were or what they wanted?" Sisko asked.

"No, nothing."

Sisko nodded. Pointing to the still form of the other Bashir, he said to the guards: "Take him to Sickbay and keep him under guard." He stood up and turned to face the crew.

"Benjamin," Dax said slowly and somberly, "was that Spock from the mirror universe?"

"Oh yes," Sisko replied. "And it's my fault he stole the Orb of Time."

"Captain?"

Sisko waved his arms up in the air in frustration. "Yesterday, that imposter-Spock came to the station, claiming he was on a secret diplomatic mission for the Federation, to persuade other Alpha Quadrant powers to stand with us against the Dominion. He asked me to arrange for him a secluded location for them to stay on Bajor and conduct these negotiations." He spat out the final word. "Once they got planetside, I'm sure he asked the Bajorans for permission to visit the location where the Orb was housed. After all, I asked Shakaar to extend to the Vulcans every hospitality." He shook his head in disgust at being so easily deceived.

"Sir, why didn't you consult with Starfleet about Spock's mission?" Worf asked.

"Because I screwed up," Sisko replied honestly. "He asked me to keep his visit here secret, said there was a risk of the Dominion learning he was here and what he wanted to do. I was suspicious he might be a changeling, but Julian performed those new tests we had developed with Odo's help, and confirmed he was Spock. Of course, he wasn't _our_ Spock," Sisko said with a grunt. "We've been so worried about the Dominion this past year, the thought of the mirror universe had completely slipped my mind."

"So he stole the Orb, to go back in time and—prevent the Terran Empire from ever falling in the first place," Kira said. "That's what my—the Intendant told me the first time. A century ago, during the first crossover event, your Captain Kirk from this universe convinced the mirror universe Spock to reform his Empire, before it collapsed. He did so, but instead it was conquered by the Alliance." Kira shivered at the memory of it all.

"Sir, now what do we do?" O'Brien asked cautiously.

Immediately Sisko replied: "First of all, we have to get the Orb back, it doesn't belong to them."

"Well, there are two ways we can get it back," Dax said. "We can go after Spock and retrieve the Orb before he uses it—"

"—Or we can get it back after he's finished with it," Sisko said, completing the sentence. "Either way, we have to go after them," Sisko said. "Worf, ready the _Defiant._ We're going to take a visit to Wonderland."

* * *

"He's coming to, sir," Doctor Bashir said.

It was a most arresting sight, and everyone not preoccupied with their duties in Sickbay strained to get a closer view. The mirror universe Bashir, indistinguishable from their own Doctor, was strapped down in his bed, still dressed in their-Julian's uniform. Standing over him, Doctor Bashir, identically clothed and styled, was tending his injuries while Sisko, Dax, Worf and Kira stood by, waiting.

Mirror-Bashir stirred, and his eyes opened. Taking in the sight of them all, he got up in his bed and smirked. "I suppose you've all come to wish me well?" His voice was sarcastic and bitter, a tone of voice people had rarely, if ever, heard from their Bashir.

"You might say that," Sisko said evenly, his arms folded across his chest.

Mirror-Bashir breathed in and stretched his arms over his head. "Well, it looks like I'll be staying here for a while. Might as well make myself comfortable." He squirmed in his bed, as if to settle in.

"What's Spock's plan?" Sisko asked bluntly.

Mirror-Bashir snorted. Turning to Julian, he whispered ostentatiously, "You know, you're absolutely right, our Sisko was just as annoying as yours."

Sisko strode towards him. "Spock left you behind to rot. Maybe you should switch sides."

"Come now, Captain, you really shouldn't underestimate him so," he said condescendingly. "Why risk lowering the shields long enough for you to beam a boarding team aboard, or a bomb?"

"We wouldn't do that!" Sisko shouted angrily.

Mirror-Bashir smiled. "We would." He folded his hands behind his head and laid back on his pillow. "I don't understand why you're all abuzz. You got your Doctor back, and when Spock's finished, you'll never have to worry about us again. In fact, I'm sure he'll be happy to return your precious Orb—once he's succeeded, of course."

Sisko decided to change his approach. "Did something happen to your resistance movement? The last time I checked, you had taken Terok Nor and repelled the Alliance attack."

Mirror-Bashir stared back intently. "Yes, we did hold them off with your help," he said with a mock bow. "Second time too, even the third. But the numbers were never in our favor, and six months after your visit, the Alliance retook the station, and we had to flee back to the Badlands. Now they're hunting us down one by one."

"They can't track you in the Badlands!"

Mirror-Bashir snorted. "Remember that transpectral array? The one your wife was working on?"

Sisko flinched at the mention of the mirror-Jennifer, who had been killed by the Intendant. "She abandoned work on it."

"But the Alliance completed it. It isn't as good as it could have been had she finished it, but good enough to make our life very difficult. Good enough, for us to have to do this."

"To do what?"

Mirror-Bashir smiled again. "I don't know. All they told me was to impersonate your dear Doctor after we seized him, and be on the bridge at the appointed time to prevent you from stopping their escape. I'm expendable. Spock didn't tell me anything else, for security reasons. So I'm afraid you're on your own, Benjamin," he said, casting a lascivious look Dax's way.

Sisko's eyes narrowed. _Fine—we'll do it the hard way._ "Rest up, Bashir," he said as he motioned for the other officers to leave. "We'll be leaving real soon." He left, sharing a meaningful look with their Doctor Bashir.

Mirror-Bashir's eyes narrowed in suspicion as he watched the others leave. Turning towards Julian, he said: "What's he doing?"

"I don't know, it's not my concern," Julian said amiably as he gave Mirror-Bashir a hypospray injection, who grimaced and rubbed his arm. Standing directly before his mirror-universe counterpart, he said brightly: "So, what's your story?"

The eyes of his dark shadowself narrowed. "What do you care?"

Julian smiled. "I'm curious about you—me—us. Are you genetically enhanced?" Although his edge had worn away considerably since coming to Deep Space Nine, Julian knew could still be quite brusque, either by accident or design.

Mirror-Bashir instantly tensed. "Yes. My parents 'volunteered' for an Alliance research project on human genetics. They were trying to make a more enhanced _ Homo Sapiens."_

"Why would the Alliance want to do that?" Julian asked.

With a snort, Mirror-Bashir spat: "Enhanced humans make for enhanced slaves. They also tried to modify our behavior, make us more docile. Of course, I wasn't quite what they hoped for, so they sent me to a labor camp. Eventually I escaped and joined Sisko—my Sisko's—motley crew."

"I see," Julian said equably, although inside he was aghast. He stepped away and continued to care for his dark self in silence.

Mirror-Bashir looked up at him skeptically. "Is that all? Aren't you going to try and engage me further? Use you gift for glib talk to loosen my tongue, perhaps make me slip and reveal what our plan is?" He sounded petulant.

"Well," Julian said breezily, "either you told us the truth and really don't know where Spock is going, or you're lying. If you're telling the truth, you're of no further use to us, and the Captain won't waste any more of his time asking. And if you're lying, where we're all going next, there are plenty of ways to persuade you to cooperate."

The smug attitude mirror-Bashir had maintained ever since regaining consciousness faded. "You won't hand me over to the Alliance. I know what your captain, your Federation, is like."

Julian smoothly leaned over until he was nose to nose with himself. In a voice every bit as cruel and cold as his counterpart, he said flatly: "And why not? Our only real interest is in retrieving the Orb Spock stole. If the Captain needs the help of the Alliance, he'll ask for it, and they'll give it to him. Not being from this universe, you don't count. There's no reason for the Captain not to hand you over to the rightful authorities of yours, to get whatever help we need."

Mirror-Bashir said nothing, his face smoldering with pent-up rage.

"Rest up, Julian," Julian said gaily, preparing to leave.

"I'm telling you, I don't know where Spock went, he didn't tell me," Mirror-Bashir said sullenly.

Julian nodded. "Rest up anyway."

* * *

"Clear all mornings," Sisko ordered.

"Aye aye, Captain," O'Brien said.

Benjamin sat calmly in the command chair of the _Defiant _as all around him, his crew carried out their duties with quiet determination. The ship shuddered as it floated free from the station. "Make course for the wormhole."

"Yes, sir. Entering now." Sisko watched as their ship disappeared into the mouth of the wormhole. They were instantly surrounded by an indescribable swirl of energy, twisting and turning in more dimensions than he could perceive.

"One minute to exit," Kira said calmly. Sisko waited patiently for them to emerge out of the Gamma Quadrant terminus of the wormhole.

"Red alert, all hands to battle stations," Sisko announced. _Just in case the Dominion wants to get in our way…_

"Exiting now." The energy swirls vanished, replaced by normal space.

"Scanning," Worf said. "No Dominion ships in the area, Captain."

"Very well, stand down from Red Alert, and prepare to crossover." He turned in his chair to survey the situation. As O'Brien and Kira manned the helm and Worf held position at tactical, Dax was pouring over her calculations at the Science station. Farther back, Odo maintained a careful watch over the shackled mirror-Bashir.

Getting up, he came over to Dax and said softly, "Old man, I hope you know what you're doing."

Hardly pausing to acknowledge, Dax replied, "I've been studying the logs of that runabout for over two years, along with the Daystrom Institute and the Vulcan Science Academy, trying to understand what happened during the first crossover event. With their help, and some long subspace musings with Dr. Lenara Kahn—" Dax said her name with a carefully-neutral tone of voice, "I'm pretty confident that I can get us into the mirror universe." She stopped talking.

Sisko tensed. "But?"

"But, the question is whether or not we get there in one piece."

Sisko sighed. "How much question?"

Dax turned to face him, a nervous smile on her face. "We could still return to Deep Space Nine, rerig the transporters and try beaming aboard the mirror universe Terok Nor."

Sisko smiled coldly. "And turn ourselves over to the tender mercies of the Alliance. I think I'll take my chances with the _Defiant,_ and your calculations." Walking away, he pretended not to hear Dax mutter under her breath, 'Suit yourself.'

As Sisko walked past mirror-Bashir, he surged towards him. "Sisko, this is a mistake, don't do it!"

Not turning to face him, Benjamin sat down in his chair. "Not much choice, I'm afraid. I can't allow the Orb of Time to be abducted and abused in such an intolerable fashion," he said. _Even if to save the mirror universe's Terrans and Vulcans._

"You're taking this ship right into the heart of an Alliance stronghold," mirror-Bashir snarled, "you'll never make it!"

Sisko turned around. "Then what about your Spock, Julian? We're going where he's going, are you saying he didn't make it, either?"

Mirror-Bashir didn't respond. Kira said aloud, "All systems ready, Captain. _ Defiant_ awaits your orders."

"Take us back into the wormhole, Major. Once we're in, Dax, do your thing."

"Aye, sir." _Defiant_ surged towards the wormhole. As the spiral of light erupted, Sisko could detect a faint aharmonic whir emanating from the warp engines. Behind him, he knew Dax was frantically adjusting the output of the drives in just the right way to allow them to enter the mirror universe.

The physics involved with the crossover phenomenon were far beyond his understanding, but Dax had tried to explain it anyway as part of the mission briefing: normally the entire array of distinct quantum realities making up the larger quantum multiverse remained completely separate, but it was theoretically possible that extreme stresses in spacetime could break down the quantum barrier between those different realities. Worf himself had passed through such a singularity a few years ago when he was serving on board the _Enterprise-D,_ and a stable wormhole constituted another type of stable stress in spacetime that could permit crossover-style travel. Finally, as the discovery and rediscovery of the universe had shown, a transporter was a third way of doing it, albeit at a far lower level of distance, energy and gravitational stress than by a wormhole.

In the case of the original crossover event at Halkan, simultaneous transports across two sufficiently distinct quantum realities, under conditions of a heavy ion storm in both universes, had the unexpected effect of not only connecting both realities, but actually causing the quantum states of both the mirror universe and their own to merge into a new single hybrid state. In effect, both universes now constituted a single quantum superstate. As a result, future crossovers were now inherently more feasible, as potentially easy as transporting from one place to another.

But not too easy; Dax explained that in the case of the first Deep Space Nine crossover incident involving Kira and Bashir, the abnormal warp field emitted when the drives on their runabout malfunctioned had 'pushed' the exit of the wormhole out of alignment, allowing it to briefly float free in eleven-dimensional subspace. Normally, such a perturbation would last only an instant, and the exit would 'snap back' to its original position. However, because the mirror universe and their universe now had the same combined quantum state, the wormhole exit in the mirror universe's Alpha Quadrant was an identically probable position for the exit to snap back to, and thus the abnormal field had temporarily switched their exit of the wormhole with the mirror universe's. Fortunately for Bashir and Kira the first time, repeating the abnormal warp signature pushed the exit of the wormhole back to that of their own universe's, and they were able to return to where they belonged.

Sisko had asked Dax about the peculiarity of Spock's plan—instead of traveling back in time in their universe, then using transporters to crossover to the mirror universe in the past, Spock apparently was doing the opposite: crossing over to the mirror universe, and then using the Orb to go back in time—by far the riskier approach. Dax had explained that if their understanding of the crossover phenomenon was correct, it would be much more difficult to crossover in the past than it would be in the present, because the two universes' quantum states would not have had enough time to come into equilibrium. After the first crossover incident at Halka, over time the inherent quantum differences would even out as the two universes merged their quantum states, thus lowering the energy barriers needed to crossover.

Dax had calculated that Spock could travel no further than twenty years into the past if he wanted to crossover from their universe to the mirror universe. Given that the Terran Empire had presumably fallen long before that, his only option was to crossover to the mirror universe first, and then travel back in time. This presented another problem for Spock—and their only hope. Dax said it was almost certain that he couldn't use the Orb without carefully modifying the surrounding warp field, as the Orb was originally created in their universe, and its overall quantum state was different than the mirror universe's. A time portal could not be created unless they compensated; if they could reach Spock before he completed the modifications, they could stop him.

"Entering the wormhole," Kira said. Abruptly the ship began to shiver and shake, as the warp drive began to go out of sync. In order to crossover, they had to modify their warp emissions, but the precise shape of it depended on the mass and shape of the particular ship. The initial runabout had provided enough data to create a theoretical model of how the drives should be modified, but now Dax had to make a continuous series of adjustments to keep the ship from flying apart. _One false move..._

Sisko gritted his teeth as the vibrations became worse. Over the din of the engines, he could hear Worf yell out, "Structural integrity fields down to 20%!" That was only 5% over redline. _Come on, just a little longer,_ he thought desperately.

"Dax!" He didn't need to say anything else.

"Standby!" she cried out.

Just when he thought all was lost, abruptly real space returned to view. The incredible racket that filled the bridge had disappeared.

"Status report!" Sisko yelled out automatically. But he didn't need to, for there was no station orbiting nearby as in their universe.

"We've successfully crossed over," Dax said shakily, getting back into her seat.

A sudden alarm blared out. "Weapons lock!" Worf yelled.

"Status report!"

"Six Klingon battlecruisers, five Cardassian warships directly ahead. Their weapons are armed."

"Red alert! Shields up!"


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5  
**

* * *

"Mr. Worf, open a channel—" The ship shuddered from the impact of a disruptor blast.

"Evasive maneuvers!" The _Defiant_ spun away, the Alliance ships in pursuit.

"Our shields are holding," Worf reported.

"Hail them again, tell them we're here to stop Spock!"

"Aye, sir." The ship shuddered from several other blasts and near misses.

"Anything, Mr. Worf?"

"No sir, they're still chasing us."

"Keep hailing them, tell them Spock has stolen a means of time travel. He's going to go back in time and wipe out the Alliance retroactively!"

"Yes, sir." Another blast, more severe, rocked the ship.

"Starbord shield generator down, attempting to compensate." Worf's console chirped again, and his head snapped up. "Captain, they've ceased firing."

Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Sisko said airily, "Not a moment too soon."

"They're hailing us, sir."

"Onscreen."

A Klingon bridge appeared on the main viewer, outwardly identical to other Klingon bridges Sisko had seen. But there was no doubting the fact that they were in the mirror universe now, for his counterpart on the Klingon ship was none other than—

"So, the spineless Federation has decided to make common cause with the Terran and Vulcan rebels and declare war against the Alliance!" Regent Worf spat. Like they did upon seeing mirror-Bashir, everyone on the bridge involuntarily looked Worf's way. The contrast was great; Regent Worf's hair hung freely all about, and his wild impulsive demeanor was the complete opposite of the one they were familiar with.

"It's good to see you, too, Regent," Sisko said dryly.

The Regent went bug-eyed. Pointing, he shouted: "What is that _p'takh_ standing next to you? That can't possibly be me!"

Sisko couldn't help but smile. "This is Commander Worf, my senior officer. He's—"

"Silence! The thought of a Klingon, serving under a worthless Terran dog like yourself! I should blow your ship away for such dishonor!"

"If you do so, you'll lose far more than you gain," Sisko cautioned. Before the Regent could respond, he said loudly: "Regent, the Spock from your universe crossed over into ours, and stole a device that allows one to travel through time. He intends to change history. I—"

"—Yes, we spotted the renegade hours ago, just before fleeing into the Badlands." The Regent leaped to his feet. Snarling, he said: "You could not defeat us in open battle, so you gave the fugitive Spock a time travel weapon to defeat us in the most cowardly imaginable!"

"You've got it all wrong! I'm here to stop him, why would I come here if I didn't?"

Regent Worf stared at him for a while, then began to laugh. "Amusing. A Terran such as yourself is willing to risk death at our hands, just to stop a half-breed Vulcan? Why betray the rebels now, when you've been so helpful to them in the past?"

Sisko didn't have time to argue. "Right now, my main interest is to recover the device that Spock stole from us," he said stiffly. "And we view deliberate alterations of the timeline to be a most serious offense. We can't allow anyone to do this, for it is a threat to us all. Certainly you see it the same way?"

The Regent laughed again. "We do, more than you may know. It seems I may have underestimated you Terrans. Then again, my Terrans always promise much, but deliver very little." He leaned forward, speaking in a low, threatening tone. "Very well, Captain Sisko. I have decided to be generous and let you live. Return to your universe. Within a few days I will have an armada here and we will find the renegade and eliminate him."

"I'm afraid that's not good enough," Sisko insisted. "I have come to recover the Orb. It is sacred property of the Bajorans. And I must be certain that no one else obtains it and use it improperly."

Regent Worf was furious. "You dare dictate terms to me! I will kill you for your taunts! Weapons officer, fire—"

"You fool!" their Worf shouted. "You sit there and bluster, while the real enemy approaches his goal! What kind of a warrior turns down help from someone who is on their side?" Sisko looked sternly at Worf for speaking out like that, even though he agreed with everything he said. _When you meet your double, it's easy to get excited._

The Regent glared silently, then said: "I see now why Terrans remain free in your universe. Apparently, your Klingons lack the warrior instinct."

"Allow us to help you look for your Spock," Sisko said again.

The Regent regarded him suspiciously. Not speaking for a long time, he finally nodded. "Very well, you may enter the Badlands to hunt down the renegade. If you do so, I shall let you live." He leaned forward, a deep frown on his face. "However, if you fail—or if we find him first—you shall die."

Sisko nodded curtly. "Regent, it would help us if you could give us all the information you have about Spock, the Badlands, everything."

"Very well, I shall send you a liaison officer." He paused, staring at Kira, and chuckled again. "In fact, I shall send you two." Grinning, he said: "Follow me back to Terok Nor!" The screen went blank.

Everyone stared tensely at Sisko. He said: "Helm, follow their flagship. One-half impulse."

* * *

"Energize."

Sisko and his fellow officers watched as the two figures materialized on the platform. He felt a surge of emotion coursing through his veins as none other than mirror-Garak and the Intendant Kira Nerys appeared before them. The Intendant was garbed in a familiar black skin-tight outfit which somehow appeared worn; there were even a few tears in it. For his part, mirror-Garak wore a standard Cardassian uniform, and his face was as angry as the Intendant's was happy.

Unctuously stepping off the transporter pad, the Intendant was all smiles as she came up to him and saluted. "Intendant Kira Nerys, reporting as ordered, Captain Sisko!"

"Intendant," he said evenly. Beside him, Major Kira stood utterly still. Sisko said: "Welcome aboard, Mister Garak."

"Don't patronize me, Sisko," mirror-Garak said with cold anger. "I have no more use for you than you have for me. Let's go and get this over with. My skin is already starting to crawl from being around so many Terrans again."

"Of course," Sisko replied with casual disdain. Touching his communicator, he said, "Terok Nor, they're aboard."

"Remember, Captain," the Regent said dangerously. "Kill him, or don't bother coming back!" The channel went dead.

"I won't forget," Sisko said dryly. "Helm, lay in a course for the Badlands, Warp nine."

"Acknowledged."

Odo gestured to the exit. "Shall we?" They all began walking.

It was without a doubt the most unusual group of people he had ever been with. Behind mirror-Garak and the Intendant, Sisko followed with Kira, Worf, and Odo, along with three armed security officers. Combined with the fact that mirror-Bashir was aboard, albeit in the brig, it was getting hard to tell everyone apart without a scorecard.

"I see you're back in the Regent's good graces," Sisko replied casually. His words caused the Intendant to stop instantly in her tracks. Wheeling around, she hurled herself towards him, coming within a quick wave of Sisko's hand of being stunned.

"You arrogant fool of a Terran," she hissed, the sensuality of her voice replaced by unbridled rage. "After the Alliance retook Terok Nor, they came looking for me on Bajor. And after they caught me, the Regent—" she stopped. She then smiled sweetly, and continued: "Well, let's just say that for punishment, I became the… special object of his attentions."

Sisko said nothing, but behind him he could sense Worf tensing up, the way he did when the mirror Jennifer had told him of his late-counterpart's less-than-stellar behavior towards her. Kira was remarkably nonplussed, but he had a strange feeling that she wasn't exactly crushed by the news of her counterpart's fall.

Seeing the distress on his face, she pouted her lips like a child. "There, there, don't worry about me, Benjamin. I'm a big girl, you know. I can take care of myself." Her libidinous persona was back in full force again. "And I must admit, before I got to know him, I never imagined the Regent would be my type. But afterwards—well, what can I say? New experiences are the greatest pleasure of all," she finished breathlessly, bosom heaving.

Mirror-Garak's eyes rolled. "As usual, you spin such a charming fable, dear. But I remember things just a bit differently. Those definitely weren't screams of pleasure I heard coming from his chambers in the night."

The Intendant went rigid. "I guess you hear all kinds of things when you've been assigned to waste-disposal maintenance," she said with exaggerated politeness. "I only wonder how I ever missed you. You can smell anyone who works in those tubes on the other side of the quadrant."

"Ignore her, Captain," Garak said smarmingly. "First, she's not even an Intendant anymore—except maybe of his harems. She's only here because I convinced the Regent to spare her life. Had I killed her, I would not have had the satisfaction of seeing her grovel over the past year."

Again the Intendant was cold. "The only reason you escaped my fate is because he doesn't fancy you. However, I know a few Legates on Betazed who would love to have you as a pet, Garak. The next time I'm with the Regent, I'll be sure to bring your name up. Knowing you, it would be considered career advancement."

The two of them were close to blows, when all of a sudden Kira laughed.

Eyes flashing with anger, the Intendant angrily demanded: "What's so funny?"

Smiling for perhaps the first time since this whole business started, Kira responded: "You two deserve each other. I hope things never change."

Mirror Kira smiled back, then walked slowly up to Kira and whispered in her ear. "My dear, you'd better hope you manage to get back to where you come from. Because if you don't, and you fall into the Regent's hands, I know exactly what's going to happen to us both."

Kira was no longer impressed or intimidated by her pathetic doppleganger's taunts. "And what's that?"

Smiling, mirror Kira's tongue flicked out, touching her ear. Kira jerked back, angrily raising her hand to strike her. "Exactly, dear. The two of us, locked naked in a targ pit, fighting to the death." She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. "Or perhaps something else first?"

It was so sad it was pathetic. Roughly grabbing the Intendant's face, Kira came nose to nose to her and said, "Don't worry, I'll put you out of your misery in no time" Then she pushed her away in disgust.

"All right, let's get moving," Odo said roughly, pushing the Intendant and mirror-Garak forward.

She stared rapturously at him. "It's so good to see you again, Constable!"

"I sorry I can't say the same."

* * *

The briefing in the mess hall was, if anything, even tenser than the altercation in the corridors. No doubt this was a result of having all three members of the mirror universe—Kira, Garak and Bashir—sitting together, shackled, as Sisko and Worf debriefed them. For his part, Benjamin wondered about how his officers were reacting to the experience. Worf seemed to be handling himself quite nicely, although he doubted whether there was anything in the universe that could break his rigid demeanor. O'Brien remained quietly off to the side, perhaps pondering the possibility of encountering his mirror self. Kira was sere, never letting the Intendant out of her sight. Dax seemed nonplussed, but kept throwing glances his way, which served to unnerve him as he recalled his...bipolar experiences with mirror-Dax. Odo appeared to be the least perturbed, no doubt for a variety of reasons. Having come from a shared communal species like the Founders, the notion of a parallel persona probably did not disturb him as much as it did the others—including himself. And as he pointed out with dark humor, Julian had taken care of his counterpart years ago.

"You're sure this information is accurate?" Worf insisted.

"It is, how many times do you have to keep asking me?" mirror-Garak shot back.

He grabbed him by the collar and lifted him up. "As many times as necessary." He dropped him down roughly.

Wincing, mirror-Garak smiled. "At least there's someone I can relate to in your universe, Captain. I certainly wouldn't take no for an answer from a prisoner either."

Sisko ignored him. On the portable screen before him, a map of the Badlands was displayed, overlaid with numerous red circles, indicating rebel strongholds that had recently been taken out by the Alliance to date.

"Looks like the Alliance has done a pretty thorough job," Sisko said, unable to keep the grimness out of his voice.

"Just as I warned her! If only my Jennifer had understood," the Intendant said with false sympathy. "Had you not turned her against us, she would be alive and the rebels—"

"—would be just as dead as they are now, if not worse. Don't insult my intelligence," Sisko growled. Turning away, he asked Dax: "How much longer before Spock can use the Orb?"

Dax fidgeted. "I'm not sure, Benjamin. In theory he could have done it by now. Certainly no more than twelve hours."

"Oh, so it's 'Benjamin' for him here as well?" mirror-Bashir blurted out. Before he could say any more, Sisko walked over to him and decked him.

"With all due respect, Bashir, shut up."

Mirror-Bashir spat blood on the floor. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be rude. It's not like I'm deliberately planning to wipe out the last hope for Terrans and Vulcans everywhere!"

Sisko shook his head. "I told you, it's not my war."

"Liar," mirror-Bashir replied. "You're the one who strung us along, holding out false hope for our freedom. Instead, all you've given us is death. Go ahead, hit me again. I'm a Terran, I'm used to getting stepped on and beaten down!"

Sisko didn't want to hit him; instead, he felt a terrible sadness and a nagging worry that he was on the wrong side of the argument, like perhaps he had been for the Maquis. _Here I am in another Badlands, working—however unintentionally—to wipe out another band of human resistance fighters. What did I ever do to deserve this? _"Actually, I believe it was my Julian who made your Sisko switch sides, not me." Quickly he pushed all further such thoughts out of his mind and focused on the job at hand. "Mr. Worf, please overlay the locations of all known Maquis bases in our universe."

Worf did so, and a series of blue dots appeared along with the red ones. Carefully studying the map, most of the targets that existed in his universe had been destroyed in this one. _There's something missing, something I need to remember…_

Then he remembered it. Looking on the map, Sisko noted that it wasn't marked on either map. _Because no one else in Starfleet knew about it, and I never said anything._ There was only one more thing he needed to be sure. "Mr. Worf, plot a course from the wormhole to this location." He pointed to a spot on the map.

Worf did so. Relieved, he saw the plot run straight and true.

"I know where Spock is," Sisko said confidently.

"Where?" Dax asked.

"A little-known place called Athos IV. The Alliance doesn't know about it, but I do—Eddington took me there, it's the perfect place for a secret base in the Badlands. Helm, plot a course to the following coordinates, maximum warp." Rattling them off, he said, "Engage!"

The _Defiant_ leaped into warp.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

* * *

Sisko made his way to the ship's brig, where the mirror universe personnel had been transferred to. Because of their mutual antipathy, all three of them had been locked in separate cells. The Intendant and mirror-Garak were in the same holding area, and did not respond when he entered. Instead, they continued to lie on their cots and refused to speak. He dismissed the guard and came up to the containment field next to them.

Garak shot up. "Captain Sisko, I must protest the way you've treated us, as if we were common criminals. I demand you release us at once!"

"You're not criminals, you're enemy combatants," Sisko replied without a trace of irony. "This mission is dangerous enough without having to worry about internal security."

Suddenly Garak smiled. "In that case, Captain, why not release me? After all, I do not have a counterpart on this ship as far as I can tell. There would be no danger of me impersonating one of your crew."

The Intendant shot him a look of deepest loathing. "You toadying sycophant! First you grovel at the Regent's feet, begging for your life, and now you prostrate yourself before a Terran just so you can be free." She quickly flashed an innocent look at Sisko. "No offense, Benjamin."

"None taken," he said magnanimously. "I'm sorry, Garak, I'm afraid I just don't trust you. But if it will make you feel better, we'll be arriving at the destination within four hours."

Garak sighed. "I had to try." He decided to change the subject. "Enlighten me, Captain; I've seen so many people on this ship who exist in both universes, what about me? Is there an Elim Garak where you're from?"

Sisko flashed a grin. "Absolutely!"

Garak's eyes lit up. "Excellent! Please, tell me all about him!"

Pausing for maximum effect, he said dramatically: "He's a tailor on my space station, and a damn good one!"

As Garak's smile twisted into sullen fury, the Intendant laughed uncontrollably. "That's wonderful! My dear Garak, I do believe your counterpart actually outranks you! And on a Terran-run station at that!"

Garak said nothing, turning away. "You're not as soft as your Federation's reputation would imply," the Intendant said discerningly. "Then again, I should have remembered not to underestimate you. Our Benjamin Sisko was certainly resourceful, but he was not known for his subtlety. I can see it is different for you."

Sisko laughed, despite himself. "The secret is simple: it's easier for a civilized man to behave as a barbarian, than the other way around."

"A most insightful observation." She clapped her hands together. "Benjamin, I'm so impressed! You are so many things that I normally don't associate with Terrans: generous, charming, why, dare I say tolerant?" She stood up. "Watching you interact with your fellow crewmates, I realize now that it's not an act."

"What's not an act?" Sisko asked hotly.

"Your kindness. Your gentleness. It's so strange. Certainly not what I normally associate with Terran—or should I say, _human_ behavior."

"Maybe you need to get to know more of us," he grumbled.

"Oh, I've gotten to know _many_ Terrans in my time!" She licked her lips. "And in _every_ way possible. But I wasn't talking about my humans, I was talking about yours. I mean, my Sisko was a capable man in every sense of the word, but he was shallow as the solar wind. You're not, your colleagues aren't. How is it so?" She spoke with almost childlike curiosity.

Against his better judgment, Sisko responded. "All right, you want to know why? It's all about environment." Without realizing it his voice began rising, veins popping out of his neck. "Your Terrans are the same flesh and blood as I, but where I come from humans aren't treated like slaves, killed at random, worked to death, considered inferior. Treat Bajorans, Klingons, Cardassians—anyone like that for a couple generations, and see what you end up with." He was virtually shouting those last words.

The Intendant became deathly still. "However we treat Terrans—humans, it is no different than how they treated us," she said slowly and contemptuously. "It was humans who exterminated the Xindi, and almost did the same to the Romulans, Terrans who declared war with the Klingons at Organia, Terrans who evicted the Gorn from their homeworld and Terrans who occupied Bajor—doing everything to us that you accuse us of doing to them!"

Sisko glared at her. "In case you think I pick on your species alone, Captain, Vulcans were just as bad," she added brightly. "Ask the Andorians, Tholians, or Tellarites, if you can find any of them left. The only reason the Alliance avoided their fate was because we fought back. That's the nature of the universe, Captain: kill or be killed. I'm sure it's the same where you're from."

Sisko was really angry now. "Maybe that's how it works in the mirror universe, Intendant, but where I'm from—"

"Oh no, Sisko, you can't denigrate my universe so easily," Garak shot back, breaking his silence. "I've tolerated the manner in which you so snidely refer to us as being from the 'mirror universe', but a mirror image is only a reflection of the real thing. You are no more real than I am, your reality has no greater claim to existence than ours. I can understand why you may not be so sympathetic to our Alliance as to your Terran and Vulcan counterparts, but remember—they were responsible for their own actions. I know what they did and wanted to do, Captain, you don't. And I know that if history had gone another way, and the Terrans had prevailed, you would be far more concerned with stopping any rebel Klingons or Cardassians than our dear ex-Chancellor Spock."

Sisko paused for a while before speaking. "I never said you were any less real than I was, Garak. And yes, I don't know your history as well as you do. But I do know this: I am here in your universe, helping your Alliance, stop a Vulcan—your Spock, by the way—from rewriting your history. And I also know my people, and my universe, better than you do. And I know this for a fact: we may fight to defend ourselves, fiercely in many cases, but our way of life is not built on tyranny." He picked up a datapad, deactivated the containment field and tossed it to Garak. "Read about us for yourself." He reactivated the field.

Not looking at the datapad in his hands, Garak smiled. "I shall. But you know as well as I do who writes history in the end."

"Good day, Garak, Intednant. I have to get back to work." He turned to leave, but before he could Garak spoke again.

"One last question, Captain Sisko," he asked in a calm, respectful tone.

He wheeled about in exasperation. "Garak, I don't have any more time—"

"—If it were your species that could be saved by a time traveling vigilante like Spock, would you be willing to let it die because the end did not justify the method? Please answer me, I'm genuinely curious."

Sisko stared back at him, thinking about it, then realizing no simple answer could possibly suffice. "Maybe."

Garak shook his head sadly. "My dear Captain, I'm very, very sorry to hear that."

Sisko didn't understand. "Why?"

"That it took you so long to say 'yes' or 'no', shows you don't really know yourself. Which also explains why your demise is so near."

Frowning, Sisko turned and left without saying a word in reply.

* * *

Stewing in his anger and despair, it took mirror-Bashir a while to notice he had a visitor. Upon doing so, his spirits brightened considerably. "Well, well, what an unexpected pleasure," he said to Jadzia Dax, who was standing on the other side of the force field to his cell.

"I wish to ask you some questions," she said equably.

"I already told Sisko, I don't know what Spock has in mind." He leaned closer to the force field. "But if you don't fully believe me, you are welcome to use whatever means you have to extract information out of me." Smirking, he said: "I warn you, though, I will resist to the last."

Smiling sweetly at him, she said: "That won't be necessary."

Mirror-Bashir began pouring on the charm. "My Jadzia would never say that," he said huskily.

She gave him a condescending stare. "I'm not your Jadzia."

The mood passed. "Apparently not. So then, how are things between you and Sisko?"

Her smile dropped a few more degrees in temperature. "We're just friends."

Mirror-Bashir laughed. "That doesn't work in my universe, I'm sure it doesn't work in yours." He came closer to the force field. "I bet if I were to fill you about the times your captain and my Dax had together a year ago, you might begin to think differently."

It was as bad as she feared when she decided to come down here and interrogate him. "No thank you, that's his business," she said simply.

"Well then, what's yours?"

Dax's smile warmed. "I want to know more about the history of your universe."

He snorted. "Then you've come to the wrong person. The past is dead to me, I'd rather forget about all of it."

She suddenly became very serious. "It's different for me; for a joined Trill, my shared pasts are still very much alive within me."

Bashir stared, regarding her with intense interest. "You're joined?"

She nodded. "Your Jadzia isn't?"

He froze. "Being so close to Terrans, in form if not necessarily in politics, Trills were not spared the fate of Earth or Vulcan." He looked at her with haunted eyes. "The Cardassians executed almost all the joined Trills, didn't want anyone with memories of life before the Alliance victory. The few who survived… they forcibly extracted the symbionts and took them away to perform medical experiments on them."

There were very few things that Dax in all her lives had experienced that were more horrifying than what she just heard. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

For the first time he could remember in a while, mirror-Bashir felt his anger leaking away. "Forget about it. It was all before our time."

Dax decided to start over. "It's very important for us to understand how our two realities diverged. I'm not certain, but I believe that at some unknown time in the past, our universes were in fact identical."

A hint of curiosity filled his eyes. "What makes you believe that?"

"Because so many individuals exist in both universes, despite their different histories. There are theories which could account for this—heck, it could just be due to random chance—but I need to know more about your history to come up with better answers."

"You're quite an intellectual, I can see. Not like my Jadzia at all." He sighed. "All right, I have nothing better to do. What do you want to know?"

"How did the Terran Empire come into existence?"

Mirror-Bashir laughed. "Is that all? How much time do we have?"

"Not much, a few hours."

"Well, let's start from the beginning. First, the name: 'Terran Empire' is the term aliens, in particular the Alliance, use. Officially we called ourselves the Dual Empire of Earth and Vulcan."

Dax gave him an encouraging smile. "See? I've learned something new already. Please continue."

"It originated from the Dual Alliance, established in 2161 Old Earth dating, one year after the end of the Triangle War." He saw the confusion in her eyes, and clarified. "Between the Vulcans, Romulans and Earth, from 2156-2160." He looked at her quizzically. "Doesn't ring a bell?"

She shook her head. "In our timeline there was an Earth-Romulan war during the same time period, but no Vulcans. Why were they involved?"

Mirror-Bashir was incredulous. "Why were they involved? Because the Romulans attacked them! And almost won, had it not been for the intervention of the Earth Dominion."

"The what?"

Mirror-Bashir rolled his eyes. "Earth's world government, formed 14 years after the start of World War III." He paused. "I see I'm not making any sense to you. You did have a World War III in your universe?" She nodded. "Started in 2054 between the United States of North America and the Greater Chinese Republic?" She nodded again. "All right then. For about ten years both sides tried to recover from the initial nuclear strikes, and then the war started up again. In 2064, the GCR and its allies in the Eastern Coalition went on the offensive, and four years later, defeated the remnants of the New United Nations and forced the surviving governments to join under the aegis of the Earth Dominion at the Shanghai Settlement in 2068."

Dax said, "Fascinating. I thought you had no interest in history."

"I don't. I remember every wretched detail of the past three hundred years, because frankly we Terrans don't have much else left to us. But that doesn't mean I enjoy thinking about it," he said bitterly.

"Point taken," she said respectfully. "May we continue?" He nodded. "Obviously there was no Earth Dominion in our universe, and I don't understand how there could be one in yours." She paused: "When was Earth's First Contact in your universe?"

"October 17th, 2072. The Earth Dominion patrol vessel _Icarus _encountered a Vulcan cruiser at Tau Ceti. Almost came to blows, if I remember," he chuckled.

Dax's eyes narrowed in concentration. "In our universe, Earth's First Contact took place the same time as Cochrane's first warp flight. Was his effort the first in your universe as well? When did his maiden flight take place?"

"Yes, he was the first. It took place on April 6th, 2063."

"April 6th? It was April _5th_ in ours!" A look of triumph filled her face.

"I don't understand," mirror-Bashir said, annoyed. "So Doctor Cochrane had a hangover and postponed his original launch. What difference does that make?"

"Don't you see? In your universe, Cochrane's flight was delayed a day, and because he didn't make his flight on the 5th, he missed the Vulcan survey ship that passed through Earth's solar system that day!"

"What Vulcan survey ship? I never heard anything about a survey ship visiting Earth in 2063."

Dax said quickly, "Probably didn't want to provoke Terrans by revealing that you were under their surveillance at a delicate time." She continued on with her original train of thought, almost ignoring him completely. "Julian, this is incredible! The entire divergence between out universes can be explained by the fact that First Contact in your universe happened nine years later than in ours! In my universe, after First Contact the surviving governments pulled together to form the United Nations of Earth. It took much longer than in your universe, until the early 22nd century, but the key is that it took place peacefully." She looked eagerly at him. "I'll bet the Earth Dominion wasn't exactly the most peace-loving government around?"

Mirror-Bashir felt an odd need to defend the reputation of his Earth. "Well, it was fairly authoritarian, but it had to be, to solve all the problems Earth faced after nearly being destroyed by the war," he said defensively. "After First Contact they wisely kept tight controls over human space travel as well, which was a good thing considering the many more advanced races in the sector at that time." He smiled. "But we caught up very quickly."

Dax bit her lip. "Did the Xindi attack Earth in 2153?" Bashir nodded sourly. "What did you do?"

His chest puffed out with pride. "The Vulcans helped us locate the Xindi homeworld in the Delphic Expanse, and we hunted them down and destroyed them."

Dax was silent. "What did you do?" he asked.

She stared defiantly at him. "They didn't do what you did!"

"I suppose they talked to the bastards, tried to reach some mutual compromise of sorts? Isn't that what you do?" he spat.

Not wanting to rehash old conflicts, Dax did not respond. "What about the Vulcans, what were they like, and what were your relations with them like?"

"Very aloof—of course, that's nothing new for Vulcans," he chuckled. "Fortunately for us, they had their hands full with the Andorians, Klingons, and Suliban of the time, so they pretty much left us alone. Likewise, the Earth Dominion stayed clear of Vulcan's way." Mirror-Bashir paused, frowning. "Actually, the Vulcans severely disapproved of our war against the Xindi, and even broke off diplomatic relations. We were 'too militaristic a species to associate with,' I believe that's what they said. Of course, after what happened next, they forgot all about that." Now he was grinning again.

"Tell me more about the Triangle War," Dax urged. Seeing the look in his eyes, she warned: "Background and general information only, no war stories, please."

Mirror-Bashir sighed. "Unknown to the Vulcans at that time, the Romulans were slowly expanding their sphere of influence. We're still not entirely sure of all the details—at least, we humans—but it's clear that once the Romulans learned of the Vulcans, they decided to launch a war of unification. It was a terrific shock to them, far more even than the Xindi were to us—certainly, the few Vulcans I know who still have memories of that time speak of it as being almost as horrific as when the Alliance destroyed Vulcan." He said this casually, but it made Dax wince. "Caught by surprise and without friends, the Vulcans were on the ropes. After much deliberation, the Earth Dominion decided to intervene on their behalf. We were the only power in the quadrant to do so," he added, chuckling.

"Vulcans weren't very popular, were they?"

"They don't make friends easily," mirror-Bashir agreed. "Actually, why we aided them when they had done relatively little for us is also something of a mystery, but I'm pretty sure it was out of unspoken gratitude for the Vulcan assistance in helping us find the Xindi. The Romulans were a formidable enemy, but the combined effort of Earth and Vulcan was sufficient to force them to withdraw. The postwar negotiations were very messy, but from then on Earth and Vulcan always made common cause with each other. All the way to the end," he added sourly.

Dax was silent for a long time, taking in everything he said. Finally she spoke: "It all makes sense now. In your universe, the Earth Dominion kept humanity out of the way of Romulan expansion—instead, it was the Vulcans who got hit by them first. That violent descendants of pre-logic Vulcans could almost defeat them must have had a shattering effect on their entire culture. As a result, I'll bet that the whole pacifistic school of Surakian logic must have been utterly discredited. And both Earth and Vulcan, having shared the experience of surprise attacks by alien species, decided that from now on the best defense would be a good offense, and joined together—"

Mirror Bashir finished her words: "—in the Dual Alliance. And the rest, as they say, is history."

Neither of them spoke for a long time. "So, what shall we talk about next?" he asked brightly.

"Thanks to you I now know how the Empire began. So how about telling me how the Empire fell?" Mirror-Bashir suddenly became very still. Before Dax could respond, an alert sounded. "Red alert, all hands to battle stations."

Dax got up. "I have to go."

Bashir smiled. "It's been a pleasure talking to you. However, I must be honest and say that I hope your mission fails."

Smiling sweetly again, Dax said nothing as she left.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7  
**

* * *

_Defiant_ swayed to and fro uncomfortably, buffeted by the currents of the plasma storms that surrounded the tiny grey little world ahead. The static on the viewscreen was particularly severe, so much so it was almost impossible to see anything.

"Worf, how's our cloaking device holding up?"

"Significant power fluctuations, Captain, but I believe we're still hidden from detection."

"Dax, any signs of other ships?"

She exhaled in frustration. "It's hard to get a reading without using a sensor sweep." She continued monitoring the sensors, then said: "Negative, Captain. No ships in the area. At least, none I can detect without a full-powered sensoe sweep."

"That's good enough, old man, we don't want to give away our presence."

Worf said: "Orders, Captain?"

Sisko considered the problem. A few months ago when he came to Athos IV with Eddington to stop a purported Maquis missile attack, the interference outside was so great they couldn't beam down. _Unless…_

"Chief, how close do we have to get to the planet before we can safely beam down?"

O'Brien made some calculations, then said: "Forty kilometers, sir."

Sisko did not hesitate. "O'Brien, bring us in tight for transport. As soon as you're clear, recloak and stand by. Away team, meet me in Transporter Room One."

* * *

"Energize." The landing team rematerialized on the surface, in a rocky corridor twenty meters from the main landing pad.

Sisko led the team of Worf, Kira, Dax and four other security officers forward through the dark and vapor-filled passageway.

"Readings?" Sisko whispered.

Dax lifted her tricorder. "Four Vulcans and five humans. There's a raider-type ship in the hangar. I'm detecting a flux of chronometric particles emanating from a point twenty four meters ahead."

"The Orb. Any sign they're getting ready to use it?"

"Unknown, but that ship's engines are standing by. They could take off at any minute if they wanted to."

"Let's go. Worf, Kira, you and Squad One wait outside the southern exit. Dax and I will take Squad Two and circle around to the north side."

His two teams split up, with Sisko and his group circling around through a branching passageway. A few minutes later, they were on the opposite side of the hangar. Peaking out behind the side of a wall, Sisko could see a Terran rebel raider ship sitting on the landing pad. Human and Vulcan guards stood all around it.

Sisko retreated back, then pointed back down the corridor to the stairwell. They silently climbed up to the second level, and crept up to the exit. His team members took position along the catwalk, lying low to stay under cover. Coming forward, he yelled at the top of his voice: "Spock!"

He ducked back as a volley of disruptor fire crackled all around him. From inside the stairwell entrance, he could clearly hear Spock's voice crying out: "Hold fire!" A pause, then: "Captain Sisko? I should have know it would be you." He approached from the other side of the ship. Spock was now wearing a white robbed tunic, and Sisko noticed something: his hair was now steel-gray. Sisko suddenly noticed that he seemed much weaker and frailer than back on Deep Space Nine.

He looked down at the armed guards pointing their weapons upwards. "You're surrounded, Spock. I advise you to lay down your arms."

Spock frowned and did not respond. Sisko's throat tightened. "Mister Spock, I will not ask you again. Power down your ship, and hand over the Orb to me."

"Before I do, will you hear me out?"

"We don't have time for this," Sisko snapped. "You can explain it to me on the way back—"

"—Captain, please, I feel an enormous need to explain myself to you," Spock said earnestly. "You are but the second Federation captain I have had a chance to interact with, and I want you to know how I—and you—ended up here. Think of it this way: if you are successful, you will be the only one to know the whole truth of our history."

"And if you're successful, I'll still be the only one to know anything about your past at all," he shot back. It was enormously frustrating; he had to stop Spock, but in his bones Sisko knew he couldn't bear to give the Alliance a victory. _ Stall! _"Try not to ramble, Mister Spock."

"Of course." He cleared his throat. "After your Kirk returned to your universe, I spent the rest of my time on my _Enterprise_ thinking of how I could try and reform the Empire, make it more humane. As it turned out my Kirk—or, as everyone in our universe referred to him, 'Tiberius'—would play a key role in it all, for good and bad. He rose to the Admiralty, while I went into scientific research and diplomacy, beginning my rise through the much-neglected civilian sector. As he became more powerful in Starfleet, I knew one day we would face off once and for all. I tried to stop his rise with the Genesis Incident."

Despite himself, Sisko was fascinated. "I don't understand."

"One of the Empire's many weapons research programs, only I knew this one would never work. Nonetheless, I assigned Tiberius' former paramour, Carol Marcus, and their son David, to work on it." Spock appeared bemused by the memories. "The only reason peace-loving traitors like Carol and David Marcus were allowed to live was because they were brilliant scientists. I assigned them both to the project, knowing that there was a high probability that they would do something brash to keep it out of the hands of the Empire. And like clockwork, they decided to defect to the Klingons and warn them about Genesis, out of fear the Empire would become unstoppable. When Tiberius found out, he went into a rage and went after them. Later, on the short-lived Genesis Planet, he found them and killed both, along with their Klingon contact Kruge. I was then able to convince Starfleet Command that Kirk was behind it all, and had him arrested for treason."

Sisko was speechless. "Not exactly how I would suggest achieving political reform," he said coolly.

Spock raised his hands in supplication. "I had no alternative, I could not defeat him openly, not without losing my own life in the process." He continued: "He fled to Vulcan of all places, looking for asylum, but it was of no avail. I was bringing him and his crew back to Earth for his show trial, but an alien probe attacked Earth at the same time, and Kirk and I were forced to work together to save it—"

"—by going back in time and bringing a pair of humpback whales back to the twenty third century," Sisko finished, unable to keep himself from smiling.

Now Spock was speechless. He flashed Sisko a small grin. "Quite right. It worked perfectly, except for two things: one, I was unable to prevent Kirk from killing the 20th century scientist, Doctor Gillian Taylor, who was helping us." The grin abruptly vanished. "Second, and far more seriously, Kirk became a hero to the Empire again, and my plans were set back. But I was not deterred. A few years later, from my new position as Imperial Ambassador, I arranged the first-ever tripartite conference between the Terran, Klingon and Romulan Empires on Nimbus III, attempting to improve relations between the great powers. Then I failed again, only this time it wasn't Tiberius who stopped me, but of all people my own exiled brother, Sybok. He was a follower of the old Surak tradition, which advocated nonviolence. He and a bunch of his followers hijacked our ship and took us to the center of the galaxy, to Sha Ka Ree, where they believed the creator existed and would bring peace to the universe. But they were disappointed, to say the least. At least they had the sensibility to commit suicide when their fantasies were shown to be false," he said coldly.

"At least they believed in peace," Sisko remarked uncertainly.

"Do not misunderstand me, I'm grateful to Sybok and his band of followers. It's just that they were more successful by death than through life," Spock said acerbically. "They became martyrs to many Vulcans, stirring up within them long-dormant ambivalences and desires for peace. Those sentiments saved me from being executed after the Nimbus III debacle, and helped me begin my ultimate ascent to the Chancellor's office. At last, I had the potential power to bring about peace." A shadow came across his face. "The terrible irony is I succeeded—and brought utter ruin to our two peoples."

"What happened?" Sisko asked sympathetically.

Spock waved him away. "I would rather not discuss it, the memories are still too painful." He paused, then continued: "My sincere apologies, Captain. I did not want to involve you or your Federation at all in this affair, but in the end I had no alternative. The Alliance is not run by fools; they spare no expense monitoring their space for signs of attempts to alter the timeline. And they were inspired to do so because of me. After the Alliance was victorious, I was taken prisoner. Eventually they extracted from me the real reason I instituted my reforms." Spock paused for emphasis; Sisko understood. "After that, in addition to increasing their defense against time travel, they also began an Alliance-wide effort to ensure that transporters could not be used to crossover. Unfortunately for them, they didn't know that it would become easier to do so over time—nor did they know of the Bajoran wormhole-aliens on your side of the quantum divide, and their Orbs." His grin became ugly. "And now it's going to cost them everything."

"Spock, listen to me—"

Ignoring him, Spock's voice became distant. "You cannot imagine the horrors I have endured since our fall. Being tortured night and day, year after year. Forced to watch then execute my friends, my family. Forced to watch endless replays of the destruction of Earth and Vulcan." Suddenly his voice hardened. "Do you know how they commemorate their victory, Captain? Every year on Kronos and Cardassia Prime, they select five hundred innocent Terrans and Vulcans and publicly execute them. Emphasis on _innocent. _They did all these things to me, and more, for decades, before I finally managed to escape Cardassia Prime a few years ago. Naturally for the Alliance, they responded by killing every human and Vulcan on Cardassaia that day. More than three thousand paid for the price for my freedom, just as fifty billion others paid the price for my stupidity many years ago. It is long past time I repay my debts," Spock said solemnly.

"Spock, you know this is wrong, there must be another way!" Sisko implored.

"Sorry Captain, but there isn't," came a familiar voice. Sisko's heart sank as he watched mirror-O'Brien emerge from the ship, his clothes dirty from performing maintenance.

"Hello, Sisko," he said somberly.

"Hello, Smiley," Sisko replied glumly.

Mirror-O'Brien had a pained look on his face. "I don't blame you, Ben. You did us good, but sometimes good isn't enough."

"I know," Sisko replied. Mirror-O'Brien came up to Spock and whispered in his ear. Nodding, he then reentered the ship.

"I may have a compromise that will work for both of us. If it is the Orb you require, come back in time with me. When I am finished, you may return with it to the present."

Sisko shook his head. "If you do this, I guarantee one day someone will repay you the favor—repay you in triplicate. If you think it can't get any worse, you're wrong, it can and will!"

Spock raised an eyebrow. "Fascinating argument. I refute it thus: no Alliance sympathizer will be able to repeat this action against me."

"That's not logic," Sisko said coldly, "that's your opinion."

"It is hope," Spock said simply, "the only hope we have. If this timeline continues there is a 97 percent probability that humans and Vulcans will become extinct within one hundred thirty years." Spock unexpectedly seemed amused. "Ironic that when I made a similar-such calculation during the first crossover incident, your Captain Kirk used it as evidence to argue that the Empire's policies had to change. I acted upon his suggestions, and in so doing, I brought about its downfall and confirmed the result. But this was clearly a case of experimental bias. I promise you, when I repeat the trial, I will account for the error."

To his side, he saw Dax suppress a smile. _Scientific humor._ Sisko wasn't amused. "Does the defense rest?" he asked stiffly.

Spock nodded. "Indeed, the time for arguments is over."

"For the last time: will you surrender?"

"No."

"In that case—" Before he could react, Spock had pulled out a control pad and pressed a button. Alarms went off, and suddenly his communicator chirped.

"Captain! Shields just went up over the base!" Dax consulted her tricorder. "They've also broadcasting a powerful omnidirectional subspace pulse."

"Endgame, Captain Sisko," Spock said. "That pulse is powerful enough to be picked up across the entire sector. A squadron of rebel ships is on its way, and if they don't destroy you, undoubtedly the Alliance will."

"You'll die," Sisko said.

"So will you," Spock retorted. "The difference is, you don't have to. What will it be?"

Sisko thought for a few seconds, then made his choice. Diving to the ground, he cried out: "Worf!"

On the other side of the hanger Worf's team open fire, taking down a Vulcan and two other humans. Dodging return fire, Sisko let off a shot at Spock, but another Vulcan leaped in the way and took the blast in his place. Spock scrambled back inside the ship as the remaining guards scrambled for cover.

Trading fire, Sisko pressed his communicator. "_Defiant,_ I'm ordering you to fire on this base and destroy it on my command. Acknowledge!"

O'Brien replied hotly: "Captain, you can't do that—"

"Chief, carry out your orders!"

"Aye, sir. _Defiant _out."

Dax shouted: "Captain, they're powering engines—and I'm detecting a chronometric field forming! We've only got a few minutes!"

"Then have to stop them! Cover me!" Under Dax's cover of fire, Sisko leaped and slid down a pillar to ground level. Dodging fire, he let loose several shots at the ship, slightly damaging its exterior hull. Before he could change position, the last Vulcan guard rushed him, his face twisted in anger. Immediately Sisko went down; he was unable to keep his powerful hands from wrapping around his throat. The world started going hazy when suddenly the Vulcan slumped over, hit by a shot from Kira. The other members of the away team entered the hangar, scrambling behind crates and trading fire with the remaining guards who were also hiding only meters away.

Coughing, Sisko began making his way to the ship. He had to dodge as mirror-O'Brien scrambled out of the ship and began firing at him. He cursed; there was only one minute left.

"Sisko to _Defiant,_ open fire on this base!"

"Negative, Captain, we're under attack here by four rebel ships, including a duplicate of us—" he heard an explosion, and some frantic chatter.

"O'Brien, disengage and destroy this base immediately!"

"Sir, they've placed themselves between us and the planet surface."

"Then maneuver clear and carry out my orders!"

"Aye sir!"

Cursing, Sisko tried to maneuver around back. If he could get close enough and fire long enough, he might be able to cut through the ship's aft shielding and rupture the impulse outlets. He made it around to the side, but suddenly mirror-O'Brien was on him.

"Oh no you don't!" he cried out as the two men fought desperately.

"Benjamin! They're about to transit! Get clear, or else you'll—" He didn't hear the rest as he and mirror-O'Brien continued to fight, rolling around on the hard metal floor, trying to choke one another. Suddenly, as he tried to keep mirror-O'Brien's hands off his throat, an awful blue flash filled the hangar bay, immediately followed by a fierce wind rushing towards the ship. Half-standing, mirror-O'Brien got caught in the wind and flew through the air, as did the other remaining rebel guards. Two of them were sucked into the spacetime vortex that had opened up in the hangar and into which Spock's ship disappeared—for a brief moment, Sisko saw a fiery void. Then an instant later it vanished, just before mirror-O'Brien reached it. Still flying through the air, he landed full-force against the opposite hangar wall, and slid to the ground motionless.

Exhausted, Sisko got to his feet and checked the condition of his team, some of whom were wounded.

Dax came up to him. "All of Spock's men are dead or were pulled into the vortex."

"What about Smiley?" he asked dully.

Dax bent down over mirror-O'Brien's still form. "Multiple spinal fractures, complete chordal tearing," she said softly. "I don't think he'll make it."

"We have to try. Sisko to _Defiant, _report."

"I'm sorry sir, we fired everything we had. Two of their ships were destroyed, but they stopped us from damaging the base. The surviving ships have fled back into the plasma fields."

"Let them go. Worf, find a way to lower those shields. Chief, as soon as they're down, beam the wounded directly to Sickbay. Sisko out." He turned to face Dax. Before she could speak he held up his hand. "Let's wait a second."

They waited for over a minute. Nothing was happening.

"I assume this means something," Sisko said dryly.

"The timeline hasn't changed, either Spock failed—"

"—We have to assume he didn't."

Dax nodded. "Or the situation is a little more complex than we thought. I took sensor readings of their passage. When we're back aboard, I think I can make a rough guess of where and when they went to."

Looking down at the still-form of mirror-O'Brien, Sisko had a pained look on his face. "Or we can ask him."


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8  
**

* * *

In sickbay, Sisko watched Doctor Bashir do his best to treat mirror-O'Brien. He had an ashen look to his face, and from the telltale signs and sounds coming from Julian's diagnostic equipment, O'Brien's prospects didn't look good.

Bashir got up and motioned to Sisko to step away. Out of earshot, he said: "I'm afraid there's nothing more I can do, except keep him comfortable until the end."

Nodding, he dismissed Bashir. Walking back to the bed, he brought himself down close to mirror-O'Brien. His smile was genuine, but felt forced.

Barely holding onto consciousness, mirror-O'Brien said with a rasp: "We meet again, Captain."

"How are you doing, Smiley?"

"Did they get away?" Sisko nodded. "Then real well, sir."

He felt a most unpleasant surge of guilt; mirror-O'Brien was the one person he could call a friend from this savage reality of his, even if he had kidnapped both himself and his son in his past crossover experiences.

"Don't feel bad, it's not personal," Smiley said weakly. "We had to try, you had to try."

"You're a good man, Smiley—Miles." Mirror-O'Brien smiled. "You made the best out of a bad hand, and no matter where you're from or where you begin, that's what matters."

"It was… an honor to serve with you…" mirror-O'Brien said.

"No, the honor's mine."

O'Brien nodded and began speaking again, his voice barely a whisper. "They had us beat, we gave it our all, but they whipped us. After today… we win. At least it was you, rather than them."

It wasn't going to work, but he had to try. "Hey Smiley, where did Spock go?"

With closed eyes, mirror-O'Brien gave a chortled laugh. "Sorry, Captain, no can do. Mission's not over yet, sir."

Nodding, he backed away. "Sweet dreams, Miles."

"Good bye, Ben." Sisko left.

* * *

"I need ideas people." The officers—and their mirror universe guests—were back in the mess hall, planning their next move.

"How about an observation? Never send a Terran to do a man's job," mirror-Garak sneered. Without another word, Sisko belted him in the jaw, knocking him to the floor.

"Anyone else?"

"A question, Captain," Odo said brusquely. "If Spock successfully traveled back in time in order to change history, why has nothing apparently changed?"

"Good question," Sisko replied. "Either Spock failed—which I wouldn't count on—or temporal mechanics is more complicated than I remember at the Academy." Chuckles echoed through the room.

"Not all forms of time travel can lead to the future being changed," Dax began. "Going back to the classic grandfather paradox about time travel—according to some theories if you traveled back in time and killed your grandfather, all that would result is a new quantum universe, one where you existed, and one where you didn't."

Odo was incredulous. "Are you saying that this was all for nothing? That Spock going back in time can't change this future at all?" Upon saying that, mirror-Garak and the Intendant brightened, while mirror-Bashir scowled.

"Not at all, Constable. In fact, we have reason to believe that many of the known methods of time travel do in fact cause timelines to disappear. The Guardian in Kirk's time, for example. Or to point out a more recent example, Akorem Laan. When the wormhole aliens returned him to his time, a poem that he did not originally write suddenly appeared in the historical records. And after the Darvin incident, a commission that studied it came to the conclusion that time travel using the Orb of Time could also alter the present. No doubt that's why Spock chose to steal it."

"Then why hasn't everything changed?" Odo insisted. "After all, by definition he has all the time in the universe to do so."

"Actually, that may not be true, since we have almost no experimental data about the speed of timeline changes. Theory suggests that changes to the time line in fact do not happen instantaneously, but instead radiate through the spacetime continuum at a constant rate, with the moment in spacetime where one went back in time the last point to change. However, if this is true, no one knows how long it takes. It could happen any moment, or it could take as long as the natural lifespan of the universe." Looking at the dubious stares coming her way, she held up her hands and said, "I'm sorry, we just don't know."

"No problem, Dax. In that case, we proceed as if we can still stop this. Have you managed to determine where and when he traveled back to?"

Dax fidgeted, then said: "Assuming he's going back in time, and wants to remain within the boundaries of the Terran Empire, anywhere within a hundred light years of this place, and a hundred years in the past… with a plus/minus error of one hundred light years for the distance part and plus or minus one hundred years in time."

Groans greeted her words. "If you could give me a precise estimate of either where or when he traveled to, I can determine the other with much greater precision," she said defensively.

Sisko grunted, remembering how careful mirror Spock and Bashir were not to speak specifically about the end times of the Empire which they wanted to change. _But they're not the only resources I have!_ Turning to the mirror universe prisoners, he asked them: "If you were Spock and were going back in time to stop the fall of the Terran Empire, to where and when specifically would you go?"

Mirror-Bashir sullenly turned away and said nothing. Mirror-Garak and the Intendant looked at each other, then went silent, considering. Mirror-Garak spoke first: "If I were Spock—and I thank all the nonexistent gods in the universe that I am not—I would go back to the time of the first crossover event, and tell my past self to kill or ignore the Kirk from your universe. After all, Spock got the idea of emasculating the Terran Empire from him. What better way to correct your greatest mistake?" He smiled ferally.

"Not a bad suggestion," Sisko said grudgingly. "Dax?"

"The Halkan incident took place approximately one hundred and eight years ago. If that is correct," she paused, performing some calculations, "my best guess for his exit point would be somewhere in a sphere of space with a radius of three light years approximately twenty four light years from here."

Sisko did a quick mental calculation. "Halka is much farther from here than that. Unless he were going to communicate with his past self?"

"That would be risky," mirror-Garak noted. "Empire ships of that era were hotbeds of mistrust, with officers assassinating one another to advance in rank. Would he be able to send a message to himself without anyone detecting it?"

"Probably not," Worf replied. "Even we constantly monitor our communications profile. Unless Spock was the only one in charge of internal security, someone else would almost certainly detect it. His past-self would be endangered, making the effort moot."

"But Spock had received orders to kill Captain Kirk if he did not carry out the attack on Halka," Dax responded. "Why would receiving such a message threaten him?"

"Spock could not know what the responses of the other officers on the ship would be if it were detected. Unless he could guarantee a way to get a message to himself without anyone knowing, I think it would be too risky."

"Of course, Spock himself would know the answer to that question," Sisko mused. Both Garak and Worf had good arguments for and against. "If Spock had planned this as carefully as he seems to, he would undoubtedly have an idea that would lead to more certainty of success. Any other suggestions?"

Now the Intendant spoke. "Benjamin, he could have gone to the beginning to rewrite history, but he could also have gone to the end. If he did, my guess is he went to Khitomer."

Sisko's eyes opened wide in appreciation. "Khitomer? You had a Khitomer Conference in your universe?"

The Intendant smiled. "We did indeed. "At the time of Praxis, Spock had been in power for ten years, slowly implementing his reforms. His internal ones had been successful, but relations between the Terrans and Klingons were still tense. He used the Praxis incident to push for a peace treaty with the Klingons, despite the intense opposition of the Imperial Starfleet, who wanted to take advantage of Praxis and finish off the Klingons once and for all. When he invited Chancellor Gorkon to Earth, Admiral Kirk, who was chief of the Imperial Starfleet, engineered his assassination. Still desirous of peace, Spock extradited Kirk to the Klingons and both he and Gorkon's daughter Azetbur arranged the Khitomer Conference to try and complete the peace treaty. But Kirk escaped with the help of his friends in Starfleet, and they tried to stop the conference." She smiled, apparently savoring the memory. "But Kirk was captured by Klingon and Terran forces before he could do so, and Spock signed the Khitomer Accords. Little did he know his troubles were only beginning."

Now mirror-Garak smiled; apparently he had been eager to join in telling the tale. "Our Spock made the fatal mistake of not executing Kirk immediately. Because the Terran military bitterly opposed the peace treaty, they revolted, freeing Kirk and attempting a coup. It quickly escalated to full-scale civil war, and even into a power struggle between Terrans and Vulcans, a break the galaxy had long hoped for but never received until then. Between Kirk and Spock, the Terran Empire fell into a state of chaos as it tore itself apart. While all this was happening, the Cardassians secretly approached Chancellor Azetbur and promised to help rebuild Kronos in exchange for a guarantee that the Klingons would join the Cardassians in a war that would finally defeat the Terran Empire. Azetbur agreed, and after fourteen years of civil war—a war which Spock's side won, if you're curious—the weakened Terran Empire then had to face the combined might of the new Alliance between the Klingons and the Cardassians. It was a long, bloody struggle, which lasted for more than a quarter-century, but thirty two years ago the Alliance finally prevailed, destroying Terra and Vulcan and cementing our absolute mastery of the Alpha Quadrant."

There was a brittle silence as everyone digested his words. Most of the crew of the _Defiant_ had a look of varying degrees of loathing on their faces that was not too different from mirror-Bashir's. "How long ago was the Khitomer Conference in your universe," Sisko asked tightly.

"Eighty one years," the Intendant replied.

_The same as ours_; _again the similarities are eery. _"Dax?"

"If he traveled eighty one years into the past, he would appear within a four light-year radius sphere six light years from here."

That was too close to be coincidence. "If this is right, why would he choose to reemerge within the Badlands?" Julian asked. "Why not go straight to Khitomer?"

They all thought about this. Then Worf answered: "Because he had to anticipate that we would be able to track exactly when and where he would travel to."

"A reasonable precaution, since we just did it," Sisko noted. "Hopefully."

"Yes sir. If we arrived in normal space before he did, we could track and destroy him before he could send out a signal. By arriving inside the Badlands, he expects the plasma storms to hide him long enough to get clear and send a message before we could stop him."

Sisko nodded. "One principle of temporal tactics I remembered from the Academy is never go back in time farther than you have to in order to make changes." He got up. "I'm convinced."

"But just exactly how are we going to go back after him?" O'Brien asked. "Unless we have a spare Orb no one told me about?"

Sisko smiled. "I know how. Chief, take us back to Terok Nor, maximum warp."

"Aye, sir," O'Brien said dubiously.

"Dismissed."

"Benjamin, we can't travel back in time in using the wormhole," Dax said urgently as they headed back to the bridge. "The trick we used only applies to traveling between different quantum realities at the same time. It's impossible to use the wormhole for time travel."

Sisko continued to smile. "It's impossible for you, old man, and it's impossible for me, but it's not impossible for the Prophets."

* * *

The _Defiant_ shook from a nearby photo torpedo explosion. "Shields are holding," Worf reported. Over the speakers, Sisko allowed the Regent to vent:

"—are running for the wormhole because you failed! I should have known better than to trust in Terrans and their sympathizers! When I'm finished with you your heads will be mounted in my trophy case! You coward, stand and fight so that you may die with a shred of honor. You cowardly Terran, answer me—"

There was no more time for amusement. "Kira, close channel."

"With pleasure, sir."

"Time to the wormhole?"

"One minute, sir."

The ship rocked again. "Aft shields down to 45%, main power fluctuating."

"Maintain course and speed."

An unexpected hail came from detention. "Sisko," mirror-Garak's frantic voice called out, "you don't need us anymore, let us go!"

Sisko groaned. "I will as soon as the Alliance stops firing at us." His voice took a very hard edge. "For your sake, you'd better not have harmed any of my crew when you escaped."

"Oh, they're fine, I just had to render them unconscious for a while. It's the Intendant who really deserves credit for distracting the guards with a little display while I—"

"—Computer, seal off Section 14 on Deck 8 and flood with anesthezine gas."

"Working."

"Thank you, Computer." On the viewer, the wormhole opened up, and they disappeared inside.

"Take us in half a million kilometers and then hold station. If the Alliance pursues, maintain position unless I say otherwise."

"Aye, sir."

Dax came over to his side. "Do you think it'll work?"

"Only one way to find out." Sisko closed his eyes and… he wasn't exactly sure _what_ to do. In the past, the inhabitants of the wormhole had no pattern of initiating contact with him when they wanted to communicate their cryptic intentions. Recently he been blessed—and cursed—with visions which he was sure they created, but after the operation Bashir performed on him he no longer could feel their touch. _Has it completely cut me off from them?_

Moments passed. More moments. Then time stopped.

And started.

Everything was bathed in a soft white glow. There was a curiosity, an expectation.

_I need your help!_

No response.

_Please!_

_Who are you?_

_Where are they? I can't see them, this isn't normally how they communicate—_

_We are known to you. You are not known to us._

_Your people—in another quantum reality—have made me your Emissary._

_You speak for us, but you do not speak for us._

_What are they saying? Not in this reality, I—or my counterpart—is dead here._

_Dead? _

_Oh no, not again. All right, what I mean is that we are linear—_

_You are not here yet here. Most curious._

_It's a long story._

_We are here and there. You are there, but not here, yet here._

_They must not be aware of their counterparts in the Celestial Temple. Interesting, apparently they exist in all times, but not across all spaces._

_Yes. We are everywhere here. But nowhere there. You are here, but from there. Why are you here?_

_I need your help to send me back in time._

_You are already there. You make no sense._

_No, I need my current self, and my ship, to go back in time. Only you can help. Someone else, someone dangerous, has done so and must be stopped!_

_You are discrete. Discreteness does not lead to continuousness. We are not discrete._

_They're saying it's a corporeal matter. I must convince them otherwise. This individual, Spock, has stolen something from you. Read my mind!_

_The one you speak of, he has part of us. We see. But he is not here, he is there._

_Which is why you need to send me there, where he is! So I can bring it back here._

_You are of Bajor._

_Yes! I'm your Emissary._

_We are not of Bajor._

_But your counterparts are! Will you help me?_

_There is imbalance here. You are the focus of the balance there. We take you there from here._

_Wait! You must take me there a little sooner—er, a little farther from here. And you must bring me back here, so I can return to there._

_We take you there from here, and bring you here from there. But you walk the path you make._

_What does that mean? Worry about it later! Thank you._

The light vanished, and Sisko blinked. Time started again, and he heard:

"—no response!"

"Increase power to warp drive!"

"—Bridge, the warp core is at redline, I can't give you any more power!"

Sisko saw: the ship was being pulled back to the wormhole exit. "Stand down engines!"

"Aye, sir, stopping engines. Sorry Captain, something was pulling us to back to the wormhole exit."

"Don't fight it, Major," Sisko said gently. "The Prophets are just taking us on a little ride."

Kira stared at him with undisguised awe. "The Prophets are here? In the mirror universe?"

Sisko resisted the urge to chuckle. "Yes, but in this reality I'm not their Emissary." She appeared ready to burst out and object, but he held up his hand. "Things are just different here. In any event, they've agreed to take us back in time—and bring us back to boot."

No one the bridge spoke; they stared at Sisko in amazement. "That's good to know, sir," Dax said dryly.

The ship lurched. Kira whipped around and said, "We've exited the wormhole, sir. We're back in the Alpha Quadrant."

"The big question is, when. Dax?"

"Working. From the astronomical charts, we are approximately one hundred years in the past, assuming the stars are the same here as back home." Before Sisko could speak, she snapped: "I know, that's not good enough. I'm searching for a Federation—I mean, Empire timing beacon. All right, wait—it's encrypted! Worf!"

"Working." _Very secretive, aren't they?_ "Got it!"

"All right, counting back from the precise date at which the Khitomer Accords were signed in the mirror universe, we have arrived twenty one hours and thirty six minutes before that time. By interpolating using the current time and the time of the Accord as lower and upper limits, I'm attempting to narrow down the time and location where Spock will emerge."

"Hurry, old man, time's our enemy again."

"I've got it down to a one light year radius, back in the Badlands like we thought. He'll arrive in less than seven hours!"

"Send the coordinates to helm, then take us there at maximum warp. Engage!"


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9  
**

* * *

"Helm, anything?"

"No, sir."

"Dax, what's their ETA?"

"We are now within the fifty five minute margin of error for their arrival. From this point on, Spock could arrive at any moment."

"Worf, cloaking status?"

"Holding steady."

"Weapons?"

"Fully charged and operational."

Sisko stopped talking, watching the viewscreen like a hawk. As the seconds and minutes ticked by, the more that nagging sense of doubt arose. Normally life was a grey area and one had to maneuver complicated issues with great care, but try as he could he couldn't see it here. Regardless of these Terrans' past sins, nothing justified what had been done to them after their fall. He knew that it was a mistake to consider the Intendant, Garak and the Regent's behavior as being representative of all this universe's Alliance members, but he couldn't ignore the larger facts either. _All that stands between allowing the ongoing oppression of the remnants of this universe's Terran and Vulcan populations and ending it, is my actions over the next hour. _It was yet another major burden to add to the immense loads he was carrying.

He checked the time: twelve minutes had passed. _At least they were trying to change! _But Spock had failed, his own people conspired against him, and in the end the Alliance had taken the extended hand of friendship Spock had offered… and bit it off whole. It was a case of the lesser of two evils, always difficult. _If Spock succeeds, however, there will be no reformed Terran Empire. It will be savagery on all sides, and may the most savage win. _Things could always be worse, he knew that from grim experience. Allowing Spock to change the past could easily make things worse. _I've been dealt a good hand in life, and made the best that I could of it. What matters about that statement is not the first part, but the last. I am right in holding others to that standard._

_Even Spock. _

The bridge was deathly quiet. Suddenly an alarm began blaring from Dax's station.

"Sir, detecting chronometric displacement, portside!"

"Drop our cloak! Sensors on line, get a fix on them!"

"They're at bearing 245 mark 189, distance 0.68 light-years."

"Helm, move to intercept! Standby weapons, subspace jammers."

"They've seen us, they're making a run out of the Badlands."

"Maintain pursuit! Worf, when we're in range, disable them."

"Aye, sir!" The ship shuddered as it leaped to maximum warp, making the journey through the plasma fields even more bumpy than usual.

"Sir, they've just fired a probe!"

"Quantum torpedoes, fire!"

"Firing sir!" Two quantum torpedoes chased after the probe. One of them lost lock after passing through a plasma field and prematurely detonated, while the other one closed range and exploded.

"Probe destroyed, sir."

"Good shot, Mr. Worf."

"Captain, they're transmitting. Their signal will pierce the clouds after a minute of transmission."

"Jam them!"

"Working. Successfully blocking their communications."

"Very good. Helm, report!"

"They're half a million kilometers ahead of us. The Badlands boundary is one light year ahead of us."

"Fire torpedoes!"

"Aye, sir." The torpedoes veered off course, losing lock in the swirling clouds of ionized gas. "Torpedoes missed!"

"Damn it! When we're in phaser range, fire at will."

"Yes sir, closing… closing… firing!"

A hailstorm of phaser bolts rained on the aft shields of Spock's ship.

"Aft shields down to 30%. They're changing course, heading back into the storms."

"Follow them!"

Spock's ship, unable to shake _Defiant,_ made a sweeping turn and flew towards a particularly violent field of storms.

"They're hailing us."

"Open a channel." Mirror Spock stared back at them, his face a frozen mask. Sisko noticed that the pilot was Dax; she said nothing, nor did she look at him, her attention focused on piloting the ship.

"It's over, Spock."

"My compliments, Captain," he responded in an unhappy tone of voice. "You and your crew combine to make a formidable adversary. But it is most definitely, not over."

"This is your last chance. If you do not surrender, I will destroy your ship."

"Then to steal a quote from my life-long adversaries, today is a good day to die." The screen went blank as the Vulcan ship disappeared into the clouds.

"All power to forward deflectors. Everyone, brace yourselves!" As they passed into the storms, the ship began lurching violently.

"Keep following them! Worf, you know what to do." Phaser and torpedo fire blazed out ahead, but the storms were so fierce they could not longer see whether their weapons were impacting.

"Dax, where are they?"

"Still ahead of us, I think."

Suddenly the screen cleared and their ship was visible. "Fire!" A phaser hit severed their port nacelle, and the ship spun crazily away.

"Helm, keep up with them!" The Vulcan ship was spinning towards another storm cloud, and the _Defiant_ had overshot them in pursuit. By the time they were in position to fire, the ship disappeared inside.

"I've lost them!"

"Worf, barrage fire, everything we have across their last known trajectory!"

A continuous stream of phaser fire and torpedoes streaked down into the cloud. Bright flashes illuminated it from within.

"Captain, detecting an explosion, bearing 014 mark 87."

"Target and fire!"

As more weapons fire rained in, the Vulcan ship shot out, her hull battered and scarred and venting plasma. The _Defiant_ resumed pursuit.

"They're launching another probe, sir!"

"Stop it!" This time they didn't destroy it on the first volley, forcing them to change course and pursue. The second shot dispatched it.

Resuming the pursuit, Sisko said: "O'Brien, when their shields are down, beam the Orb aboard."

"Aye, sir."

"What about Spock?" Dax asked. Sisko didn't respond. _One way or another, he's not going back to his time…_

"Captain, they're thirty seconds from being able to transmit in the clear! We may not be able to block all their transmissions once they clear the boundary."

"Worf, stop them!" Despite all of Spock's evasive maneuvers and decoys launched, three torpedoes exploded at point-blank range, destroying their other warp nacelle and wrecking their impulse drive.

"Their engines are gone, losing speed."

"Life-signs?"

"Only one, sir."

"Can we beam aboard?"

"No, they still have enough shields to block transport."

"Hail them."

"They're responding."

"Onscreen."

The bridge of the Vulcan ship was an absolute wreck, jagged chunks of metal and sparkling torn power lines strewn about. Spock was badly-burned, a look of terrible pain in his face. Mirror-Dax was slumped over her helm controls, bloodied and not moving.

"Lower your shields so we can beam you to sickbay."

With great effort Spock lifted his head up to face them. A large cut under his left eye was bleeding profusely, staining his white tunic green. "I won't go back, Captain Sisko," he said, barely audible over the racket from his wrecked ship. "If it ends here, it ends here."

"You never should have come here in the first place!"

"That is no longer relevant."

Sisko's guilt was increasing exponentially. Desperate to relieve it, he blared out: "I promise, I'll do all I can to help those humans and Vulcans enslaved by the Alliance."

An ugly frown spread across his face. "Please, Captain, don't mock me. There's no need to detract from your victory by mouthing meaningless platitudes."

"It's not about victory or defeat! Helping others is central to what we are—"

"—so it is with me, but you didn't help me, or my people. I have finally seen the light, Sisko. Before I met you, I thought all I needed to do was warn my past self of the impending treachery of Starfleet, that he could still move the Empire along a different path." He paused, coughing up more green-tinged phlegm. "But you have shown me that this was folly. All my efforts would ultimately have turned us into you, and you are so weak, so naïve, that you choose to aid those on whose hands are the blood of tens of billions of my kind and yours—and would destroy you without a second thought if they had the means and motive to. Enjoy your victory, Captain, the triumph of your principles, your Prime Directive. The wolves are coming, Sisko, and you sheep are not long for your universe—"

"—Captain, something's coming out of the cloud behind us. It's another probe!"

"Sir, he's heading straight for us!"

"Helm, reverse course and chase down that probe! All power to aft shields!"

Another explosion rocked Spock's ship. After it subsided Spock continued, every last word curdling with hate. "You and your Federation were never worthy to emulate. My logic blinded me; you are in fact my enemy, as remorseless as the Alliance." He lifted a trembling hand on his remaining good arm. "I despise you, Sisko, everything about you and what you stand for. So with my last act I will send you with me to hell." He pressed a button, and the screen went blank.

"Sir, collision imminent!"

"All hands, brace for impact!"

As the _Defiant_ wheeled around after Spock's last probe, the aft fire from the ship finally shattered Spock's remaining shields and blew up his ship mere meters away. Energetic fragments rammed into their aft shielding and jolted the ship anew. On the viewscreen, the clouds were rapidly diminishing.

"Sir, port impulse engines offline! The probe is increasing distance!"

"Chief, give me everything you got and more!"

"Ten seconds to intercept! Captain, the probe's cleared the Badlands—she's transmitting!"

"Destroy it!"

"In range!"

"Fire!"

In a flash, _Defiant's _phasers obliterated the probe. The viewscreen now showed clear space ahead.

No one spoke; the only sound was that of frantic breathing, as the bridge crew slowly relaxed. Dreading the answer, Sisko said: "Report, Dax."

She knew exactly what he wanted to know. "The probe managed to transmit for 2.1 seconds. I haven't decoded what he sent, nor do I know whether the signal was strong enough to reach Empire space."

"Best guess, old man," Sisko asked tiredly.

Dax shook her head. "Flip a coin."

They had to make sure. "Stand down from Red Alert. Mr. Worf, engage cloaking device. Helm, set a course for Khitomer, warp seven. Engage."

* * *

Sisko was resting in his quarters, replaying the final engagement in his mind, wondering what he could have done differently. Mainly he chided himself for paying attention to Spock's little tirade for too long—it might have bought him the second he needed to allow the probe to escape. Other than that, objectively, he did well—_Defiant _had faced a tough tactical situation, having to be in two places at once. _Who knows, maybe we stopped him—we deserve to have a little luck, don't we?_ At least, O'Brien had been able to beam the Orb back milliseconds before Spock's ship was destroyed.

The bridge hailed him. _Only eighty minutes after I left. Not good._ "Sisko here."

"Captain, you'd better get up here."

He sighed. "On my way."

* * *

"Sort of speaks for itself," Dax said.

"Yep."

They were watching what appeared to be an uncoded Terran Empire news channel. Despite the reforms Spock had implemented, by his standards its tenor was way too close to the propaganda of old Earth dictatorships. The screen showed the Imperial sign—a dagger through the planet Earth—flanking both sides of a blood-red text headline:

BREAKING NEWS! DUAL EMPIRE SURPRISE WALK-OUT OF KHITOMER CONFERENCE!

The broadcast showed the chaos of activity taking place at Camp Khitomer, the grim faces of human and Vulcan diplomats leaving the compound, with Klingons shouting insults after them. The Romulans and Cardassian faces were masks, but somber.

"Heads we win, tails we lose," Sisko said absently. "Looks like tails to me."

"I don't suppose we could flip again," Dax replied.

"Probably not."

"Right." She paused. "In case you're interested, I partially decoded Spock's message, mostly identification codes and personal information. Looks like the substance of the message is coded in a one-time pad, absolutely unbreakable—except for the header: 'Kirk wrong, Tiberius right.'"

Sisko nodded. He turned around and looked around the bridge, unable to read the moods of the crew. Worf looked unusually alert.

"Ship status, Mister Worf."

"All damage repaired from the battle and the storms. The ship is ready."

"Very good. Helm, lay in a course for the wormhole, warp seven."

"Aye, sir."

* * *

"We failed."

Mirror-Garak's mouth dropped open. "No!"

"Spock managed to send the signal to himself. We've monitored an Imperial broadcast announcing the Empire's withdrawal from the Khitomer conference."

"Now what?"

"We go home."

"That's it? That half-breed Vulcan changes our entire history, and all you can say is 'We go home'?"

Sisko shrugged. "Nothing else to say. Nothing else we can do."

"We have to go back!" Mirror-Garak was starting to panic. "We still have that Time Orb, or whatever? Let's use it, go back and stop them—surely you won't fail a second time, right?"

"We can't. The Orb is becoming increasingly unstable." He smiled. "Apparently it doesn't like your universe. We have to get back to the wormhole before the Empire comes looking for us."

"You can't do this! Those Terrans will finish off the Klingons, and then us!"

"We don't know that. History hasn't been written yet, remember?"

"Damn you, Sisko, this is no time to joke around!"

"No, it's time to go home." Sisko turned to leave.

"Benjamin, please," the Intendant pleaded, "surely there must be something you can do! The other Kira told me about those Prophets, you could ask them to save me—save us!"

Sisko remembered the words of the mirror universe Prophets: _you walk the path you make._ They knew what would happen, but would they know what the consequences would be?

"I can't say it's exactly been a pleasure," Sisko said to them, "but you have my sympathies. I suggest you make peace with yourselves before the ride back."

"Why?" mirror-Garak asked, the fear evident in his voice. "What's going to happen to us?"

Sisko didn't know. "We'll see. The future's always an adventure."

"Benjamin! Before you go," the Intendant whimpered, "just know this: I love you!"

He turned and regarded her quizzically.

There was an air of desperation to her voice. "Whether from my universe or yours, I could never resist a Sisko."

Sisko paused, not sure what to say. "I'll note it in my log."

* * *

Before he went to the bridge, he decided he wanted to talk to mirror-Bashir. He was all smiles. "All I have to say is thanks," mirror-Bashir said the moment he entered.

Sisko found his unbridled joy unnerving. "You probably won't exist after this," he cautioned. "All that you were, all your experiences, everything will be gone."

Mirror-Bashir continued to smile. "Anything is better than what I had to endure. I'll take my chances."

Sisko wasn't sure why he wanted to continue arguing the point, but he did. "Good or bad, it won't be you. If you were to disappear from existence, surely there must be something you'd regret about that?"

His smile vanished. "My only regret is that I won't be around to see the Alliance get what it deserves. But I take comfort in knowing it will happen."

_He's human, but he isn't like us—and never will be. _ "Farewell, Julian."

"Cheers."

* * *

Under cloak the _Defiant_ approached the wormhole. Sisko said: "Any signs of pursuit activity?"

"None. Only some scattered sublight Bajoran vessels in the vicinity."

Kira said: "Sir, what about the prisoners?"

Sisko shook his head. "We can't leave them behind, even on Bajor, they'll disrupt the mirror universe's timeline."

Dax responded: "But the timeline has already been altered."

"No need to make things worse." Before Dax could say anything, Sisko interrupted: "Better to bring them to the current mirror universe timeline, whatever it may end up being."

Neither Dax nor anyone else had a reply. O'Brien said: "We're at the mouth of the wormhole."

"Then take us in." The wormhole opened before them.

"What do you think we'll find when they take us to the present-day?" Dax asked.

"Something different."

"By the Prophets!" Kira's outburst was prompted by the incredible sight on the viewscreen - outside, the typical swirls of energy were all _frozen completely still._

"Helm, report," Sisko ordered. "Are we moving?"

Kira looked down at her console. "I don't know," she said bewilderingly.

"Dax?"

"As far as I can tell, time is standing still outside."

"I think I noticed. Are we returning to the present?"

"No idea."

"Seems you're not alone. All right, stand by, something's bound to happen."

They waited for many long uncomfortable minutes, and then abruptly the energy swirls began moving again. A second later the _Defiant_ returned to normal space.

Sisko smiled. "I have absolutely no idea where or when we are anymore."

"Working." A moment later, Dax said: "We're back at the Alpha Quadrant entrance to the wormhole, but—"

"—Captain, this is security, the prisoners have disappeared!" No one said a word in response.

An alert sounded. "Captain! Weapons lock!"

_That sounds familiar. _"Alliance ships?"

"No—the scans read like our ships."

"Onscreen."


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10  
**

* * *

"Definitely not in Kansas anymore," Bashir said. Before them, the familiar sight of Deep Space Nine—or was it Terok Nor?—floated nearby.

It was the only thing familiar.

Surrounding them, on all sides, were hundreds upon hundreds of what looked like Federation starships orbiting the station. Studying the sensor records, to Sisko it was all disturbingly familiar—he saw _Excelsior_ and _Galaxy_ classes, and numerous _Nebulas_ and _Intrepids_. But it was not what he was looking for—or feared the most.

"Captain!" On the main viewescreen, a ship from the Empire fleet was heading their way, coming to rest right in front of them. Visual inspection told them all they needed to know:

_ISS Defiant, ICC 74025_

_Looking into the mirror…to see the worst of yourself…_

"Sir, they're hailing us."

Captain Sisko stood up, a man ready to face his fate. "Onscreen."

He saw Benjamin Sisko. He saw himself.

His counterpart was standing in the center of their bridge, ramrod straight, arms folded behind his back, a fierce grin on his face. He was dressed in an unusual uniform—a sleeveless blue vest, with a gold sash slung across his chest Worf-style. At his left side was Jadzia, apparently now reborn as a captain's woman. Instead of the restrained beauty they were used to, now her entire form had been crafted into a sexual weapon, her appearance and posture aggressively seductive, her threadbare uniform making even the provocative uniforms that female humanoids in Kirk's era wore look positively chaste by comparison. Resting suggestively against Sisko, she coyly played one hand across his chest, smiling in exactly the same way the Intendant used to. Sisko found her disturbing beyond words.

At his right side was their Doctor Bashir, wearing what looked like a blue surgical gown over his Imperial uniform. He appeared to be holding a hypospray—no, a _needle!_ The rest of the bridge crew was unfamiliar, except for O'Brien sitting at the helm. This O'Brien had a look of brutality, his heavily pitted and scarred face suggesting a lifetime of war. Over his left eye was a black patch, pirate-style—it was as if Falcon from the holodecks had come to life. The last person of note on his bridge was the most surprising: a Karemma from the Gamma Quadrant, standing in the backdrop, completely impassive.

The mirror Sisko was smiling. "Benjamin Sisko, we've been expecting you."

"I bet."

"Come now, we have so much to talk about! Surely you'd want to talk?"

He didn't. "No offense, but my crew and I are tired, and we would like to go home. So if it wouldn't be any trouble, we'll just turn our ship around and go home."

"Not just yet," mirror Sisko said sharply, "we still have a few things we need to take care of."

"Oh? What?"

"First, a word from my lord." Abruptly the viewscreen switched, and now appeared to be coming from a Sovereign-class bridge. Sitting on what could only be described as a throne in the middle of the bridge—was Spock. Unlike the first mirror universe version, this Spock looked neither injured nor prematurely aged; his elegant hair and goatee were a sleek black, not mottled gray. In fact, he appeared rather portly. He wore an elaborate black robe, crowned with numerous gold adornments.

He was smiling, apparently extremely pleased. "Captain Sisko, what a pleasure to meet you at last," the now familiarly-hateful voice rang out. "I have waited nearly a century for this opportunity to speak with you."

"Too bad, we just missed each other a few hours ago from my point of view," Sisko replied brashly.

Spock's warm demeanor cooled. "Normally I would punish such impudence with instant death. I have many reasons to kill you, Captain." His voice was ever so reasonable. "You nearly stopped my counterpart on more than one occasion from telling me what I needed to know. You killed him, when I very much would have liked to speak with him in person, and for all that you should die—slowly and alone." He paused, letting the threat hang in the air. "Yet among the copious amounts of information my counterpart bequeathed to me was a surprising request that you be spared if and when you returned from the past. Apparently, he was impressed by your character, and respected you for standing up for your beliefs—illogical though they may be." He paused, apparently lost in thought. "I had my doubts, but since my future self argued for mercy on your behalf, who am I to deny myself?"

That was the last thing he expected the other Spock to say, considering his final death wish towards them. _Vulcans are very good liars. _Perhaps they would get out of this debacle alive? "Thank you," Sisko said respectfully. "Chancellor, is it?"

"Chancellor-for-Life," Spock corrected.

He had to smile. "Of course."

Spock's eyes suddenly narrowed. "Do not mistake my forbearance of you, Captain, for approval of that which you stand for," he said in an abruptly cold tone of voice. "It was your Captain Kirk who seduced me with illogical thoughts of changing our Empire to resemble your Federation, your Doctor McCoy who allowed his mind to fill my own with ludicrous notions of tolerance and mutual coexistence." He chuckled, in and of itself an un-Vulcan act. "If your Starfleet's officers are as adept at deceit as they were, your Federation may yet prove to be a worthy adversary of the Empire."

Sisko could tolerate insults against him, but he would not stand by and allow Spock to slur the ideals of the Federation, or its heroes. "Our Kirk was still right—no empire can endure forever by tyranny. You may have made it to this time, but if you don't change, one day you will all reap what you have sown."

Spock raised an eyebrow. "Again you slight me. Such impertinence! There is not a being in all of known space who has done what you have just done twice and lived to tell about it. Be advised that the third such act will be your last." He paused again. "To rebut your accusation, you need only look at the state of the Alpha Quadrant today to dismiss such concerns out of hand. If the Empire is ever to fall, I promise you, Captain, it will not be through any act of omission or commission on my part." He suddenly smiled. "Now that history has resumed its _rightful _course, would you be interested in knowing how it unfolded? I suggest you listen to what I have to say."

Sisko didn't want to, but he didn't want to risk their destruction even less. "Of course, Chancellor."

Spock nodded, saying: "Towards the end of the Khitomer conference, I was aboard my ship, _Excelsior, _preparing my final speech for the day, when the message from my alternate self arrived. It was totally illogical, but there was no doubting its authenticity, so like an ancestor of mine once said, when you eliminate the impossible, whatever explanation is left must be the truth." He frowned. "I had not the faintest suspicion that the Empire would wreck itself in civil war over this, nor did I expect the Klingons and Cardassians to ally themselves so completely and so effectively. It was an alarming flaw in my logic, one that had to be corrected immediately. At once I ordered the Empire's delegation to withdraw from Khitomer, and announced that we would impose sanctions on the Klingons if they did not submit. They refused, and eventually the Empire conquered them—and just recently, the Cardassians as well. But that was not the only benefit I received that day, for not only did I ensure that the Alliance would never arise, I was also able to arrest and punish my Kirk for treason, even though he was right!" Suddenly he frowned. "Alas, my ultimate victory was stolen from me. After Khitomer, I wished for Kirk to live as long as humanly possible knowing I had defeated him. But while I was having Kirk transported to the new penal colony on Regulus, the _Enterpise-B _ran into an unforseen energy storm and Kirk was apparently killed. Even having _Enterprise's _ incompetent captain executed on the spot did not assuage my need for justice to be done. Yet who was to know that I would get a second chance? Tell me, did your Kirk live to my day as well?"

Sisko said nothing, but he was amazed at how different history was in this new mirror universe, yet so hauntingly similar as well. "I will interpret your silence as a yes. Three years ago the Romulans were secretly developing a trilithium weapon with the help of a Doctor Soran on Veridian III. One of my captains, Picard, went to seize it for the Empire, and he became trapped in what was called the Nexus—a mysterious moving temporal passage, where he improbably ran into my old friend Tiberius. Upon learning that he was not, in fact, Emperor but living in a temporal fantasy, and that I was still alive, Kirk agreed to come back to reality and helped Picard to defeat Soran. Kirk then tried to convince Picard to join with him against me, but my Jean-Luc is a loyal solider of the Empire, and in the end killed Kirk himself." He sighed. "If only I could have been there, but you can't get everything you want in life, can you Captain?"

Spock leaned back in his chair and said in a satisfied voice: "Thus the cycle is complete, and events have been set on its proper course," Spock announced. "I now take my leave of you, Captain, but first a final warning. A balance has been reestablished between your universe and mine. The consequences of your initial inference negated. Do not interfere in our affairs ever again. If you do so, you and your Federation will suffer the consequences."

"We will not interfere." Sisko then raised his hand. "Peace, and long life, Chancellor Spock."

Spock frowned, then lifted up his hand and replied: "Live long and prosper, Captain Sisko." But instead of terminating, the communication switched back to his mirror counterpart.

"Do you have something else to say?" Sisko asked irritably.

"Oh yes, Benjamin! There's one thing Chancellor Spock left for me to show you. I'm sure you'll appreciate it. Behold!" He was no longer on the bridge anymore, but another section of his ship. On screen were three transporter-like pads, a column of energy. Inside each column, an individual floated. Looking closer, Sisko gasped; it was Kira, Garak and Worf. They all hung limply in mid air, unmoving.

"I see you recognize them," Sisko said with a grin. "They're not who you think they are." He reached into the field and pulled Kira's head up by her hair, revealing a horrific pattern of cuts and tears on her face. "She was my trusted aide on Imperial Space Station Nine. She helped me administer the station's native workforce—and kept me company on many a cold night as well!" Next to him, mirror Dax scowled. Ignoring her, Sisko let go of Kira, then stepped up to Garak's tube. "This scum was a tailor of ours, or so I thought before I learned he was a member of the Obsidian Order resistance group." Garak's face was badly bruised, his eyes staring dully ahead. "And finally, Worf here came highly regarded from the slave mines on Kronos. What a disappointment he turned out to be." Inside, Worf was wearing tattered Klingon work clothes, a small Klingon symbol attached to his chest.

Mirror Sisko turned to face Sisko again. "We did not know of their treachery until recently. When we arrested them for treason a year ago, I was puzzled why my superiors ordered them kept alive until this day, this very hour, but now I see the evidence before me clearly." Grinning madly, he continued: "Chancellor Spock told us these dogs were actually figures of high importance in that alternate universe." He laughed harshly. "Well, now we know better!" Turning, he said: "Doctor! Do the honors!"

"With pleasure, Captain Sisko." In a flash, Sisko knew what was about to happen. The doctor came up to a console, pressed a switch—

—and Kira, Worf and Garak began to scream. They flayed around in their tubes, eyes closed tight, choking from the pain. Blood trickled down the side of Garak's mouth as mirror Sisko and Dax watched on admiringly. Sisko felt sick to his stomach.

The torture lasted a minute, then stopped. The three of them gasped for air. "Fortunately I have the best doctor in the quadrant," mirror Sisko said proudly, pointing to a beaming Bashir. "He's everything you want in a good medical officer—able to save life, and willing to take it when needed. Thanks to Julian, I have been able to interrogate them longer than anyone else has ever been able to question slave Bajorns, Cardassians and Klingons while still keeping them alive." He grinned, rubbling his hands together. "At last, today has come and now they'll finally get what they deserve."

Mirror Sisko pressed a button, and the containment field of mirror Kira's cell disappeared, sending her tumbling to the floor. As mirror Sisko walked towards her, mirror Kira began pleading for mercy. "Master Sisko, please, I've done everything you asked of me," she cried, her raspy voice filled with hysterical terror. "I've never been anything but a loyal servant of the Empire, and of your household!"

Mirror Sisko turned back to the viewscreen. "She actually is a very good servant," he said wolfishly, looking down at mirror Kira. "But things change." He bent down and smiled. "We'll come back to you." He then approached mirror Garak's tube.

Mirror Garak's voice was weak but defiant. "If you're going to execute me, I would at least hope it would be for the truth—that you didn't like the jacket I made for you last week." Reddening, mirror Sisko released the field, and kicked Garak in the stomach while he was on the ground.

"You're so annoying, tailor. How would you like to die?"

"Oh, a slow, painful, tortuous death would suit me just fine," mirror Garak said brightly. "I would beg and plead for the pain to stop so much, it would be such a joy to you that nothing else could ever match it, no matter how many other 'spoon heads' as you like to call my kind you dispatched. They'll make a holodrama of the day the great Benjamin Sisko, conqueror of the Gamma Quadrant, vanquished the fiendish Elim Garak, humble tailor from Cardassia Prime with not a piece of latinum to his name—UNGH!" mirror Sisko's phaser blast burned through his chest, and he collapsed dead on the floor.

Waving the phaser in his hand, mirror Sisko seemed agitated. "He wanted me to do that, didn't he. Make me so sick of his yammering I'd lose control and kill him on the spot. Always hated that about him. Oh well, he's finally gone." He walked over to mirror Worf. "And what about you, Klingon?" he barked. Pulling out his phaser, he said, "Don't tell me it's a good day to die, I'm tired of hearing it from every Klingon I've ever killed."

Eyes stormy with rage, mirror Worf rose slowly to his feet, then shouted at the top of his lungs: "Today—" Deactivating the shield, mirror Sisko and two other guards fired, vaporizing mirror Worf, leaving his words echoing in the air.

"And now, for the finale," mirror Sisko murmured. He approached mirror Kira, who was curled up on the floor.

She held out her hands in helpless terror as mirror Sisko approached. "No! Please, please, I'll do anything for you, anything!"

Benjamin had had enough. "Terminate transmission." The screen went blank, and immediately thereafter a phaser blast rocked the ship.

"They're hailing us," Kira said tightly. "Saying if we don't reestablish communications, they'll destroy the ship."

Sisko sighed. "Open a channel." Mirror Sisko appeared, livid.

"Never interrupt me when I'm gloating!" He pulled mirror Kira up and stabbed her in the stomach with his dagger. She cried out, falling to the ground.

Mirror Sisko looked up, apologetic, even sheepish. "This is your fault, Ben. I was going to let her live. Spock wanted them all dead, said they were mortal enemies of his counterpart in the Alliance universe. Garak had to die, so did Worf, but I would have let her live. You're fault, not mine."

His counterpart's barbaric cruelty and sadism sickened Sisko to the bone. His voice breaking, he cried out: "Go ahead then! Don't let her suffer!"

Mirror Sisko looked at him, saying nothing, ignoring the fading gasps coming from mirror Kira as her blood pooled at his feet. Then he shrugged. "Okay." He fired his phaser at her, and she was still.

Sisko's blood was boiling. "Anything else you'd like to say?" he said through clenched teeth.

The other Sisko grinned. "Tons. I'd love to chat with you, compare our lives, share some stories, but I've got my orders. Just wanted to explain what you're seeing." He gestured expansively. "This group of ships assembled here wasn't just for your benefit—it's a convoy we're sending over to the Gamma Quadrant, as we prepare for war against the Dominion. Third one to date, with many more on the way." Immediately he covered his mouth. "Oops! I wasn't supposed to say that! Oh well, it's no secret, and after all, they can't put a captain in the Agony Booth! Anyway, I was wondering if you have a Dominion on your side as well?"

Sisko nodded. _After all the hell I've gone through here, that's what I have to look forward to._

"Well? Tell me about them!"

"We're having problems with them—the Dominion's allied with the Cardassians, and have a foothold in the Alpha Quadrant."

"Knowing what little I do about your universe, I'm not surprised. They tried to stop us, shut down the wormhole on their end, but fortunately for the Empire, we stopped them first, thanks to our ally—actually, the Founders' gift to us. Constable!"

Behind him, the Karemma dissolved into a scarlet gelatinous figure. The indistinct mass quickly formed into the very recognizable appearance of Odo, albeit in an Empire uniform.

Sisko felt very sad. "How can you be helping the Empire against your own people, Odo?"

In an identical voice to their Odo, mirror Odo responded roughly: "Because they abandoned me as an infant, sent me out into the universe with no regard for my welfare. Before this is over, they will learn to regret that mistake."

Sisko wanted to correct the misinformation and lies the Empire must have filled him with since the day they found him, but then realized there was no point. "I'm sure they will," he said wearily.

An alert bleeped behind mirror Sisko. He turned around, then back again. "I'm afraid the Chancellor is getting impatient. You'd better leave."

"Done. Helm, power up engines."

Mirror Sisko was ebullient. "It's been fun, Ben. Don't call us, we'll call you!"

Sisko reddened. "Best you stay on your side of the looking glass as well," he said shortly.

Mirror Sisko's eyes flashed, but he remained calm. "Get out of here," he snapped.

By his side, mirror Dax waved airily at them and said, "Bye, honey!" as she turned and kissed her Sisko. Then the screen went mercifully blank.

Everyone on the bridge had a look of intense disgust at what they'd been forced to witness—and what they failed to prevent. Sisko broke the silence: "Dax, have you prepared the warp engines to allow us to return to our universe?"

Dax had a pained look on her face, but answered firmly: "Yes, Captain."

"Then take us home, helm."

"Aye, sir."

The _Defiant_ spun around and entered the wormhole, disappearing into the passage under the watchful eyes of the reborn Terran Empire.


	11. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

* * *

Major Kira waited patiently for Captain Sisko to let her enter his office. It was the middle of the night, and Operations was nearly deserted, a few crewmembers overseeing the various station systems, who in turn were watched over by the omnipresent security detail. Inside, his office was dark, but she could see the back of his chair turned towards her—the Captain was apparently staring out the window. Like many who had gone on the mission to the mirror universe, he had withdrawn from a lot of casual contact, as if trying to make sense of it all. Only Odo, it seemed, remained relatively unfazed by the affair—without missing a step, he had been on Quark's case within minutes after returning to Deep Space Nine.

She signaled again, and the doors opened. As the doors closed behind her, the chair slowly rotated around. Though it was dark, she could still see his smile.

"Evening, Major," he said warmly. "Having trouble sleeping?"

"A little," she admitted. Dax had called it 'beating around the bush,' the human inclination to avoid discussing serious matters by means of irrelevant diversions. When the Federation first came to Deep Space Nine, it had been one of the major causes of friction between herself and Sisko's staff. Now, having lived and worked together for the past five years, where many times each of them had risked their lives to save the other, it was both more tolerable and more frustrating. Especially with Sisko—she didn't like wasting what little off-duty time she had with her Emissary in small talk.

"Are you mad at me, Major?"

Sisko's question prompted a double take. "Sir?"

"For failing in our mission? For not stopping Spock, and allowing the current mirror universe to fall back under the oppression of the Terran Empire? For what happened to your other self?"

_That's what I like about Sisko, he knows when to focus on the important stuff. _"How can I be mad at my Captain, and my Emissary?" The memories of her new mirror universe self, terrified and begging uselessly for her life before dying at the hands of Sisko's counterpart, had made the first night back a restless one. However, she had also had a lifetime of experience coping with unforgiving reality.

Sisko did not respond. Kira hoped he didn't take offense; she thought after discovering B'hala he would be more comfortable with the role the Prophets had chosen for him. "Not every mission succeeds," she added. "I know that better than anyone. But we didn't fail, not completely. No one was lost, and you did retrieve the Orb. I don't see how Starfleet can possibly find fault with your actions, sir."

He picked up a datapad and waved it around. "Oh, they're all fine with it—Starfleet Command, Starfleet Intelligence, even the Bureau of Temporal Investigations." He laughed, but it was mirthless. "Everything's as it was—and yet nothing is."

She nodded in sympathy. "I'd be lying to you if I said I was happy with the new state of the mirror universe now," Kira began. "But the Alliance wasn't exactly a paradise, either. Past oppression is no justification for present tyranny."

"A lesson Kirk tried to teach Spock, that tyranny always creates the seeds of its own destruction. Ironically, by going back in time to prevent the Terran Empire's fall, all Spock did was ensure that his beloved Empire will relearn that lesson in the future, probably at even greater cost." Sisko shook his head in disgust. "Such a waste."

"It's not an easy lesson to learn," Kira said. "Especially for oppressors." Even for her, all this talk about dying and oppression was becoming difficult to endure, so she decided to stop talking.

Sisko ended the silence. When he did, his voice had a sudden bounce to it. "This is really crazy, but I have to admit I actually miss the people we encountered. Oh sure, they were all thieves, scoundrels, even murderers, but in their own way, they all had noble spirits."

"Your counterpart was quite the personality," Kira said with a small smile.

Sisko laughed. "Not nearly as much as yours. She showed me a side of you I never expected."

Kira was outraged. "I'm nothing like her! Sir!"

"Maybe not. Like I said, a shame they're gone. Smiley, Dax, you, me. Even the Regent had his charms." They laughed for a little longer, but eventually fell silent again.

"They're not all gone," Sisko said distantly. "Some of them have found a new life over there."

An icy shiver wracked Kira's body. The new mirror universe was far less familiar than the old, but the more she thought of it the more disturbing it became. Never had any one power conquered known space like the new Terran Empire apparently did. To see Klingons and Cardassians reduced to helpless slaves was discomforting; even worse was to see herself reduced to that which she had most despised during the Occupation—a hapless, whimpering collaborator, desperate to save her own skin. But the worst thing of all was to see the human she admired most of all—and not just because he was her Emissary—morphed into a creature more revolting than the most loathsome of Cardassian overseers. _There can't possibly be any of _that _in my Sisko_—_or can there?_

Sisko didn't respond. Feeling a sudden surge of emotion, she slowly came up to his desk and took his hand. To her great relief he didn't pull away.

"Sir, that wasn't you, that wasn't me." She said it calmly, but with great determination. _I need to convince myself as much as him of that._ "I know you, a lot better than I once did, and I know that murderer we saw yesterday was not Benjamin Sisko, and never will be."

Sisko nodded. "I know, you're right, Major. Still, like I said to Garak, we're all products of our environment. When the Alliance triumphed, that universe turned you into the Intendant and me into your messenger boy." He gently pulled back. "And now with the tables were turned and the Terran Empire resurrected, I became a warlord, and you…" His voice trailed away.

_Either died a willing collaborator discarded by their masters, or was so broken by their torments she was begging for her life to end. Surely that can't be me! _Yet she knew that on a few occasions, the fight seemed so daunting that the thought of just giving up had been more than something to dismiss out of hand. It spoke volumes as to the new state of affairs over there.

"We can't change the past—well, at least, we shouldn't change the past," Kira said. "Even though I don't need any more evidence, the fact that the first mirror Sisko changed his mind and decided to fight for what is right, tells me all I need to know about the man sitting across from me."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Major," he said wryly.

"It's much more than that, sir," she said with intensity. "Whatever happens in the future, I know that thanks to you the Federation will stand by our side. And most of all, I know you will never let us down."

"That's what I'm most afraid of," he replied.

It was a very surprising thing for her to hear from him. "Captain?" she asked gingerly.

He was silent for the longest time. "We are what our choices make us, but it's the situations we find ourselves in that determine our choices. Spock over there, he made more than one choice, he made two. The first time he took a leap of faith and tried to tame his Empire. You know what he got in return. Then he made another choice, deciding to go back to the way of the sword." He paused, then spoke again: "You heard his words, Major. I thought he was bluffing, trying to distract us with his angry words, but now I'm not so sure. And I told you what their Garak said. Are we going to have to choose like he did? Kill or be killed? Sacrifice our principles for expediency? In the future, if and when I face that choice, will I make the right decision? Perhaps the distance between a man and his reflection is closer than we like to admit."

Kira finally understood what was bothering him—not so much the actual events of the mirror universe, but the implications for their own. It unnerved her to hear him admit that, under the wrong circumstances, he might do something regrettable. Then again, she realized that she was no different. She hoped things wouldn't turn out that way, but mirror Spock was definitely right about one thing—the storm was coming fast, and there was no guarantee who, if any, of them would survive it.

Suddenly, she had a sudden inspiration—in fact, she knew exactly what she wanted to say. "I don't know the answer to that question, but I do know one thing, Captain." Kira got up to leave. "I know that I trust you to make that choice, more than any of them," she spoke resolutely. "Even more than me."

Sisko nodded slowly and smiled one last time. "Thank you, Kira. Good night, and sweet dreams."

"Thank you, sir. Good night, sir." She turned and left, leaving him alone to his thoughts.

* * *

**_The End_**


	12. Author's Notes and Commentary

**Author's Notes and Commentary [WARNING: Spoilers below]**

* * *

For all those reading this, first thanks again for taking time to read this fanfic. This story is very special to me, as it's one of my first efforts, and still my most favorite story that I have written, am writing, or plan to write. In recent years I have added Author's Notes and Commentary to all my fanfics, in order to discuss how the story was put together and insights into the creative process, but I have never done it for this one. As I am now hard at work at finishing my existing projects and some new ones, I am happy to take the time to do one for_ Rewriting History_.

I am a huge Star Trek fan, and in particular Deep Space Nine. I always adored the episode from the Original Series, "_Mirror, Mirror_", and I am an enthusiastic fan of sequels to _Mirror, Mirror_ in the secondary literature, in particular Diane Duane's novel _Dark Mirror_ (probably my favorite mirror universe story) and the comicbook special. Of course, the mirror universe was revistied in Deep Space Nine's '_Crossover_' episode. I confess I strongly suspected they were in the mirror universe by the end of the preview, and I was thrilled to learn how mirror Spock did respond to Kirk's words, only to have backfired disastrously. Sadly, the quality of mirror universe episodes in DS9 declined to the end (the less said of _Emperor's New Cloak_ the better). The mirror-universe episodes from _Star Trek: Enterprise_ were a lot of fun (the inverted credits are genious!), but I must admit I'm not a fan of having a TOS-era ship go back in time to Archer's mirror universe, as that would have made impossible the rest of the mirror universe timeline. I also enjoyed the Shatnerverse mirror-universe novels (_Spectre, Dark Victory _and_ Preserver_). Finally, I confess I haven't read most of the new secondary mirror universe literature - a lot of it seems very uneven IMO.

My only quibble with the new canon mirror universe of _Deep Space Nine_ is that we did not get to see a contemporary mirror universe - I understand that's not the direction they chose to go with, but as interesting as the mirror universe characters were, I'd rather have seen a complete inversion, instead of having Klingons and Cardassians as bad guy oppressors (nothing inverted about that!) This is why I love _Dark Mirror_ so much - as a small spoiler, Picard's learning of the origins of the mirror universe, and his conversations with mirror-Crusher, are unforgettable, and is IMO the scariest portrayal of the mirror universe, both in large historical detail and in the personal consequences to individual characters. So when I started picking up writing fanfiction (almost a decade ago now!), I always wanted to write a story where the mirror universe Spock tries to undo what he did. With the Orb of Time from _Trials and Tribbleations_, the ideas for this story came together quickly - in fact, I came up with the complete outline for this story in less than a day, and it was by far the easiest writing experience I've ever had. I do not exaggerate when I say that, when writing this story, the words literally flew from my fingers to the screen, almost without conscious thought, as if I were transcribing live dialogue more than creating a story out of nothing. I've never had any experience quite like writing this story.

For those who have already read this story, I have gone through the text and made numerous corrections for spelling, grammar, unclear language and logic. The only significant detail I've changed is that originally, mirror Spock had regrown his goatee when Sisko finds him on Athos IV. The goatee of course is an iconic symbol of the mirror universe, and I wanted him to have it again, but logically it made no sense that he would regrow it so quickly after appearing before Sisko on DS9 without it. Oh well!

Every Star Trek story featuring time travel has as a theme the present being threatened by a change in the past, and in virtually all of them the status quo is restored thanks to the actions of the characters. Obviously that did not happen in this story. Yet in the relaunch of Star Trek represented by the new Star Trek movie of a few years ago, we have someone go back in time and causes an incredible change to the timeline (no more details will be discussed here to avoid spoilers). It raises the very interesting question of whether or not, in this new Star Trek continuity, whether young Kirk and Spock, or anyone else, will decide to go back and change things. Quite frankly, given the consequences of the timeline change in this movie, I think it would be wholly justified! In fact, I would even say it's a moral imperative to do so - where's the Bureau of Temporal Investigations when you really need them! ;)

Ok, onto the Commentary for each chapter:

**Chapter 1**

_Rewriting History_ is set in the 5th season of DS9, where I believe there was no mirror universe episode. Soon before the finale _Call to Arms_ seemed the best place to situate the story, and in fact it takes place 2 weeks before that episode - in the beginning of _Call to Arms_, there is a comment by O'Brien that the Dominion convoy is the 5th in 5 weeks, so by saying the one at the beginning of _Rewriting History_ it's the 3rd in 3 weeks, dates the story as 2 weeks before _Call to Arms_.

**Chapter 2**

The last we hear of Spock in TNG is that he is still on Romulus. Hopefully it should be clear that something is unusual about this situation, so that's why there is an emphasis on testing whether Spock is a changeling, as it provides a great misdirection for who he really is. Of course, it can be readily inferred after the fact what's going on, but it's a mystery what the plan is initially.

When mirror-Bashir comments over the unconscious Bashir, it's a technique that can obviously only be used in writing, as it would be instantly obvious if someone with a voice like Bashir was speaking over Bashir's body. I wrote this story to fit as an actual televised episode of DS9, but this would obviously have to be changed were it filmed.

**Chapter 3**

I am very happy about the revelations in this chapter, it unfolds very smoothly yet unexpectedly. This is one of those chapters that seemed to literally write itself.

**Chapter 4**

When Worf says "Sir, why didn't you consult with Starfleet about Spock's mission?" I'm actually criticizing myself for a plothole, as in reality Sisko should (and probably would) have been more suspicious and cautious when Spock showed up unexpectedly. My only defense is to say what Sisko said - I screwed up! ;)

One of things I like so much about this story is that, more than any other, I think I got the tone of each character's speech down very well. In fanfic, where you are making stories about pre-existing characters, one of the most important things to get right is the mannerisms and speech of a pre-existing character. I've said this before, but one of the things I do to achieve this is to actually mimic what each character says, by speaking aloud (as best as I can) in the way each character speaks in their TV show or movie appearances, if applicable. I actually think this is useful for any character, even original ones, because you are trying to capture in words many nonverbal aspects of a character. So mirror-Bashir, who is an irascible, hostile, snide person in the DS9 mirror universe episodes, is written as such. Try it, read the words aloud as you remember them from the show, and I think you'll see where I'm coming from!

The technobabble about the crossover phenomenon is dense, but I tried to make it as realistic as possible. The best grounding for the mirror universe comes from the TNG episode _Parallels_, where Worf experiences many different quantum realities (each one being an alternate universe). It was important to discuss the differences between time travel and crossover, because like Sisko says, it would be easier to go back in time and crossover, rather than crossover then go back in time. Thanks to **MagicAuthorHandwavingScience**, I closed that particular plothole!

**Chapter 5**

This chapter is a tour de force of experiencing the mirror universe characters from the DS9 episodes. The Regent is written in a suitably bombastic fashion, the Intendant is as unctuous as ever, and Garak is probably the most similar in both universes, with his social cleverness deemphasized, but his deadly wit intact.

One of the plotholes I did not resolve in this story is how Spock, after escaping, learns of the Orb of Time and access to our universe. Let's just say that once he escapes and joins the underground, eventually he learns about the Terran rebels at Terok nor, and quickly realizes a much greater potential plan for victory than downloading plans for the Defiant. After all, it's pretty unrealistic that the rebels could hold onto Terok Nor for any length of time, so it was pretty easy to come up with a scenario that makes the rebels desperate.

Athos IV is the planet Eddigton leads Sisko to in _Blaze of Glory_.

**Chapter 6**

Garak's challenge to Sisko is another example of the old means-versus-ends dilemma. With regards to the nature-versus-environment debate raised by the Intendant and Sisko, this also comes to play in the Epilogue, which I will discuss further.

Here, I begin to dish out some of my theories about how the mirror universe came into being. Like in _Preserver_ and the Enterprise mirror universe episode _In a Mirror, Darkly_, I pinpoint the origin of the spilt at First Contact. By having Cochrane sleep in the day of his first flight, the Vulcan ship leaves the solar system, and is not around for his first warp flight. Without alien intervention, Earth is unified under a tyrannical government, and takes an entirely different approach to interstellar relations than what happens after _First Contact_ and in_ Star Trek: Enterprise_, some of whose events are subtly altered to fit into my mirror universe chronology. I do like my idea about Romulans going to war with Vulcans first, rather than humans; the irony of course being that a more hostile Earth is spared the horrors of war.

As an aside, _Star Trek: Enterprise_ has an interesting take on the Vulcans. In TNG Vulcans were generally underwritten and not particularly interesting, while in DS9 they become rather nasty, seemingly little different from Romulans except with better emotional control. _Voyager_ has interesting explorations of the Vulcan character, but it is also clearly a more complex picture than the strict logic of TOS (as a further aside, I love the twist in _Enterprise_ about Surak and how Archer's revelations completely change the direction of Vulcan society). In Enterprise, Vulcans are a toned-down version of the Minbari - the most advanced of the alien races, generally peaceful but not to be messed with. It's easy to see how they could be relatively isolated and unpopular, and thus vulnerable to being attacked. By incorporating the idea of the Xindi attack with a Romulan first strike on Vulcan, it's easy to see how two otherwise hostile and xenophobic species such as the mirror universe Terrans and Vulcans could otherwise come to common cause. In this, I midly disagree with the implication in _In a Mirror Darkly_ that the Terran Empire somehow conquers Vulcans; that seems very unlikely.

**Chapter 7**

As I said earlier, originally mirror Spock regained his goatee by now, but in retrospect that was unlikely, so I changed it.

More villain monologuing! No book or movie can do it now with a totally straight face after that devastating putdown in _The Incredibles_. Sorry, it's just so much to hear the villains explain themselves! Anyway, it's not hard to see his recollections as a mirror universe version of the movies Star Trek 2-4, and even 5!

Smiley's back! By far the most sympathetic character in the DS9 mirror universe...

**Chapter 8**

...so it's too bad I decided to kill him! :p

In Star Trek time travel stories, the implication is usually that if you change the past, the future you returned to will be altered. But it's probably more realistic to assume that if you somehow travel back in time and change the past, all you end up doing is creating another alternate universe; your original one remains intact. It's the twist of my favorite 'time travel' story, _The Proteus Operation_, and I think it's an implicit part of the prequel comics for the 2009 Star Trek movie. Of course there are exceptions, such as the one from DS9's _Accession_ episode.

Here I finally lay out my cards of how (IMO) Spock's actions caused the Terran Empire to fall. As you can see, it involves a mirror version of _Star Trek 6: The Undiscovered Country_. Crucially, I wrote such that the conquest of the mirror universe takes place relatively recently, only about thirty years ago. There's an important reason for this: given the massive changes in the timeline, it's extremely unlikely that most, if not all, the characters in the contemporary mirror universe would exist if events had changed as far ago as the TOS era. By making the final destruction of Earth relatively recent (about 30 years ago), that at least makes it theoretically possible for our characters to have been born, and then grow up in vastly different circumstances. So from Khitomer to the story present, it's about 70-75 years (14+25+32), which is roughly consistent with the movie chronology and the 81 year total Kira gives.

Finally, as Worf notes, when you can travel through time, you have to be careful, as you never know if your enemy knows your plans and will travel back right to the place where you intended to go, and plan an ambush.

**Chapter 9**

It was a little difficult to think of a way for Spock to prevail, until I realized he didn't have to beat the _Defiant_, only get a message to his past self. With that, the hidden probe was a simple solution.

Was Spock expressing his true feelings to Sisko? In part, yes, but being a logical Vulcan, I think Spock could appreciate Sisko's devotion to duty even while trying to prevail (and kill him). And acting in an extremely emotional manner probably made it even more convincing. Had Sisko been a step quicker, he might have guessed that Spock was stalling for time. But it's not really is fault, as I planned all along for Spock to succeed, hehehehe!

In this story, it all turns on the decision of Spock at Khitomer. In reality, the situation was probably such that it would not have stopped the Empire's decline, or opposition to his reformist policies. But certainly Spock is the key, regardless.

Finally, as I write this I added another nontrivial part: explaining why Sisko did not leave mirror Garak, Kira, and Bashir behind in the past, to avoid any changes to the timeline, even if it had already been altered (when the crew had no response, it means I didn't have one, not because I couldn't come up with one, but because the story has to end!)

From the moment I began writing this story, this cliffhanger was in mind.

**Chapter 10**

Finally, the conclusion I had in mind since this story was first conceived: a contemporary DS9 Terran Empire in all its glory (and horror). I love the image of Spock sitting on a throne like a Star Trek version of Emperor Palpatine of _Star Wars_ fame. In this edition of Spock monologues, he gives an outline of my mirror universe version of the story of S_tar Trek: Generations_. Poor Captain mirror-Harriman! ;)

Another image I clearly had in mind at the beginning was Sisko and mirror Sisko, accompanied by much cooler new versions of Bashir and Dax, facing off against each other, with crushed versions of Kira, Worf and Garak. The horribly ground-down version of Kira was not intended as disrespect for the character, but as a final accent of emphasis as to how horrible the Terran Empire really would be. As much as I wanted to see it reborn, I had to be honest and portray the consequences of the same, such as the corruption of Odo.

As I said earlier, getting the tone of the dialogue right is critical, and I repeatedly went over each character's lines in this chapter, speaking them aloud, trying to mimic the sound and tone of speech from the TV shows.

**Epilogue**

A nice, quiet introspective reflection of the events of the story was the perfect way in my mind of wrapping things up. Of the many terrific character interactions in DS9, that of Sisko and Kira, especially when the topic of Emissary comes up, is one of my favorite. Some examples I like: her talks with Sisko in _Accession_ about the role of the Emissary, or her frantic pleas in _Starship Down_. Her now-unshakable faith in Sisko (which wasn't always there) is both fascinating and disturbing, but here it is reassuring.

Nature-versus-nurture and ends-versus-means debtates are integral to stories in science fiction generally. I have explored ends-versus-means in other fanfics, and of course the mirror universe is the ultimate playground for nature-versus-nurture debates. I think the key to good characterization of mirror universe characters is to show that the alternate character in some way emerges from the same material that makes up the character. Mirror Spock in the original TOS episode did that the best, while I think the Intendant and the original mirror-Sisko, while compelling characters in their own right, were not distorted perspectives of the original characters as I'd hoped for. And I would accept criticism that I might not have achieved what I wanted to achieve in the characterization of my characters here. So Sisko's final speech, in addition to raising the issue, does not settle the debate, but rather keep the question alive: is Sisko truly a man who abides by his principles? (the first mirror-Sisko suggests maybe not). What would cause him to turn against himself, and what would it look like?

In visiting the Mirror Universe, Sisko and everyone else see what might have been. Sometimes, the change is not all that great (O'Brien, Garak). For some their character seems the same, except pointed in the opposite direction (Quark, Odo), while others are different yet pointed in the same direction (Worf). A few are just different people altogether (Nog/Rom, Bashir, Dax, Bareil). The original mirror-Sisko starts out the opposite, but grows closer to his self (of course, his character is cut short). The Intendant is harder to get a grasp on, as her circumstances are completely different than our Kira, and her character really doesn't have any common reference points with our Kira.

I left these questions open as a way of forward-connecting the issues to future episodes: short-term, in _Call to Arm_s, he advises Bajor to sign a nonaggression pact with the Dominion, going against his mission to bring Bajor into the Federation. But the ultimate test is in the episode _**In the Pale Moonlight**_, where Sisko actively betrays all of the Federation's principles in order to get the desired result (the Romulans joining the war against the Dominion). A great episode at the time, its implications become even more disturbing now, if you think of parallels with the Iraq War. As great and positive a character Benjamin Sisko is for the entire series, that episode must provoke hard questions about him, and ourselves. The 'point' of this story, such as it is, is to hint at this dilemma to come.

As for ends-versus-means, although not a big part of this story, I think that as a time-travel story where the timeline is irrevocably changed, my story parallels that of the 2009 Star Trek movie - having crossed the Rubicon with respects to this former taboo, it's a legitimate question why others should not attempt to change the timeline as well in future Star Trek movies in that setting. Now they probably won't, but it's worth considering.

Of course, the real goal of this story is to entertain, and I hope I did so, for old and new readers alike. If you're wondering whether I will come back to Star Trek fanfiction, I will say that I do have an idea for another AU DS9 story, related to _Children of Time_. The problem is I have a big backlog of other projects, so I can't say when I'll get to them. So for the last time, thanks again for reading, and keep on Trekking!

Scruffy-Looking  
May 19, 2012


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